Durbin Meets with New Board Chairman of the FutureGen Alliance

Press Release

Durbin Meets with New Board Chairman of the FutureGen Alliance

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with the new Chairman of the Board of the FutureGen Alliance, Paul Thompson, to discuss their commitment to seeing that Mattoon, Illinois is home to the first emissions-free coal generation plant. Last month, the Secretary of Energy, Sam Bodman, made clear his intention to pursue alternatives to FutureGen that would effectively kill the project in Central Illinois.

"For more than five years, FutureGen has been a cornerstone of the Administration's clean coal initiative and has widespread support from American companies invested in clean energy technology," said Durbin. "Unfortunately, it is now clear that we will have to work around both the President and the Department of Energy in order to move this project forward. For that reason, I wanted to make certain that the Illinois Congressional Delegation and the FutureGen Alliance are united in their commitment to FutureGen."

Paul Thompson is a Senior Vice President of E.ON U.S., a natural gas and electricity supply company that services customers in Kentucky and Virginia. E.ON U.S. is a member of the FutureGen Alliance. Mr. Thompson has many years of experience in the electricity, natural gas, and oil industries. He was named Chairman of the Board of the FutureGen Alliance on January 8, 2008.

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