Tenaska is reportedly giving up its plans to build a coal gasification plant in Taylorville. The company will apparently build a 650-megawatt natural gas plant on the Taylorville site instead. The cost of the alternative plant will be about one-third of the original $3.5 billon proposal.
Company officials met with lawmakers and other business executives in Springfield yesterday. Tenaska has been unsuccessful for several years in trying to get lawmakers to support the project, opponents, including Exelon, the parent company of Northern Illinois' Com Ed, said the unproven technology would cause rate increases, especially for businesses. Supporters said the project would have meant jobs in construction and the coal industry.