Futuregen 2.0 Project

Illinois Commerce Commission Approves Futuregen’s 28-Mile Pipeline Project

SPRINGFIELD, Illinois — Illinois regulators have approved a 28-mile FutureGen Alliance pipeline proposal that will carry carbon dioxide through the western part of the state.

The Illinois Commerce Commission says it signed off on the proposal Tuesday. But their permission is contingent on federal officials giving final approval to the $1.68 billion project.

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If you think you may be affected by the FutureGen Alliance Pipeline Project and/or are interested in a free consultation, contact our eminent domain landowner attorneys at 1-888-318-3761 or visit us on the web at www.landownerattorneys.com.

Most Recent Maps: Futuregen 2.0 Project

Feds Give Futuregen 2.0 Draft Approval

The FutureGen Alliance expects to store 22 million metric tons of carbon dioxide at a site in Morgan County over a period of more than 20 years as part of efforts to show that Illinois coal can be cleanly burned and emissions safely stored underground.
Details of plans to store carbon in four wells at depths of about 4,000 feet were included in a preliminary permit approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an EPA representative said Tuesday. A final permit is needed before CO2 storage could begin at the site 18 miles northeast of Jacksonville.
An open house and public hearing have been scheduled for May 7 in Jacksonville. Written comments will be accepted through May 15.
“This is a draft permit,” says a statement from the U.S. EPA regional office in Chicago. “FutureGen can only begin construction if the final permits are issued, and then they become effective.”
The ruling on a final permit for FutureGen 2.0 depends on the number of public comments submitted, according to EPA. The permit would be the first in the nation for the type of carbon storage proposed for the $1.68 billion project.
“CO2 is a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change,” EPA stated. “Carbon sequestration is a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
In approving the draft permit, EPA concluded rock formations at depths of 3,785 to 4,432 feet were suitable to contain the estimated 1.1 million metric tons of carbon that would be stored annually.
Carbon from a retrofitted Ameren coal plant at Meredosia would be carried to the site by a 30-mile underground pipe.
The rock formations used to hold the carbon, according to EPA, would not endanger local underground water sources. The nearest water source, the draft permit stated, is 1,800 feet from the storage formations. The study includes an area from Meredosia to the west side of Springfield and from southern Mason County to northern Macoupin County.
FutureGen also would be required to plug the wells and monitor the site for at least 50 years after storage is completed.
Ken Humphreys, CEO of the FutureGen Alliance, said the draft permit moves the project that much closer to construction.
“The alliance appreciates the hard work the agency has done to complete the draft permits,” Humphreys said in a statement, “and we look forward to the issuance of final permits which will allow us to keep this near-zero emissions project on track.”
For more information about the project, read an EPA fact sheet at bit.ly/futuregen2

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If you think you may be affected by the FutureGen 2.0 Project and/or are interested in a free consultation, contact our eminent domain landowner attorneys at 1-888-318-3761 or visit us on the web at www.landownerattorneys.com.

Icc Sets Hearings On Futuregen Project

JACKSONVILLE — The public will have a chance to comment on FutureGen 2.0 plans to transport and store carbon-dioxide at a site in northeast Morgan County during a public hearing scheduled later this month in Jacksonville.
Comments also will be taken online, by phone and through email, according to an announcement by the Illinois Commerce Commission. The ICC is hosting the hearing scheduled for 7 p.m., Thursday, March 27 in the council chambers on the second floor of City Hall, 200 W. Douglas Ave.
“The public hearing is part of the review process,” ICC spokeswoman Beth Bosch said in an email. “Public comments are filed in the case and considered by commissioners.”
Commissioners last month approved construction of the 30-mile pipeline between Meredosia, on the Illinois River 20 miles west of Jacksonville, and the storage site. A retrofitted former Ameren coal plant at Meredosia would supply the CO2 for storage.
The 10-to-12-inch diameter pipe would be buried at depths of four to five feet. FutureGen developers estimate 1 million metric tons of carbon would be stored annually for 30 years.
Bosch said the case remains in its early stages and commissioners have not set a deadline on the review process.
The U.S. Department of Energy has committed $1 billion toward the $1.68 billion cost of FutureGen 2.0. Members of the FutureGen Alliance, a consortium of energy companies, are aiming toward the start of construction in 2014.
A Sierra Club lawsuit seeking to block the project is pending in federal court in Springfield.

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If you think you may be affected by the FutureGen 2.0 Project and/or are interested in a free consultation, contact our eminent domain landowner attorneys at 1-888-318-3761 or visit us on the web at www.landownerattorneys.com.

No Plans To Use Eminent Domain For Pipeline, Per Futuregen

THE FUTUREGEN ALLIANCE has its carbon-dioxide storage site and the pipeline route to carry the CO2.
Up next, surface rights for monitoring wells and the pipeline.
The Morgan County endeavor has become something of the last project standing for carbon storage in Illinois. The other major project in this region, Taylorville Energy Center, failed to get enough legislative support after more than a decade of off-and-on efforts.
There is a Sierra Club federal lawsuit seeking to block FutureGen 2.0 and plans to store 1 million metric tons of CO2 a year for 30 years deep beneath the earth in northeast Morgan County. But two key announcements of late have given the project momentum — Illinois Commerce Commission approval of the pipeline route and the U.S. Department of Energy commitment of $1 billion toward the estimated $1.68 billion cost.
The pipeline would carry CO2 from a retrofitted Ameren coal plant at Meredosia to the storage site, and the question naturally has come up about the use of eminent domain for acquisition of land from reluctant property owners. The Alliance says it should not be needed.
“We are completing the process of acquiring surface rights for the monitoring wells and pipeline routes,” the Alliance said in a statement. “Eminent domain has not been used and we do not expect to use it.”
The Alliance already has obtained deep-surface rights and land for injection wells, according to the statement. The not-for-profit Alliance includes several of the nation’s largest coal companies, including Peabody Energy.
There still are many moving parts, but after the ICC decision, FutureGen Alliance CEO Ken Humphreys predicted construction would start this year.

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If you think you may be affected by the FutureGen Pipeline and/or are interested in a free consultation, contact our eminent domain landowner attorneys at 1-888-318-3761 or visit us on the web at www.landownerattorneys.com.

Icc Clears Path For Futuregen Pipeline

A state agency on Thursday cleared the way for two separate massive projects that will affect Morgan County, including giving a certificate to the multi-billion dollar clean energy project known as FutureGen 2.0 for construction and operation of a carbon dioxide pipeline and related facilities.

The FutureGen 2.0 project includes an oxy-combustion, coal-fueled electric power plant with carbon dioxide capture technology, the carbon dioxide pipeline that will transport the gas produced and captured by the power plant and the storage facility where the carbon dioxide will be injected into a deep geologic formation for permanent storage.

The Illinois Commerce Commission said the pipeline is consistent with the public interest, public benefit and the legislative purpose as set forth in the Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Transportation and Sequestration Act. The commission determined FutureGen organizers are able to construct and operate the carbon dioxide pipeline in compliance with the law and that the route proposed should be approved.

The order prohibits the start of construction of the pipeline until all necessary permits are received from state, federal and local governmental entities.

A majority of commissioners agreed that the Carbon Dioxide Pipeline Transportation and Sequestration Act does not require FutureGen officials to obtain and file a copy of the permits before exercising eminent domain to acquire any property along the proposed route.

The commission also Thursday issued an order on rehearing in ATXI’s Illinois Rivers transmission lines case and approved the construction of lines from Pawnee to Pana to Mount Zion and Mount Zion to Kansas.

The commission review on rehearing was limited to addressing the need for construction of new or expanded substations at Ipava, Pana, Mount Zion, Kansas, Sidney and Rising and the best route linking Pawnee and Mount Zion. The commission also reviewed an alternative proposal for sections of the route between Meredosia and Pawnee and between Mount Zion and Kansas.

The commission approved ATXI’s request to construct the new $1 billion, 375-mile long, 345-kilovolt electric transmission line from the Mississippi River near Quincy to the Indiana border, near Terre Haute, in August, finding that the line was necessary to ensure reliability of the electric transmission system and to transport wind energy from the west. The cost of construction will be shared by all customers living within the Midcontinent Independent System Operator region, which is a multi-state transmission area.

The main portion of the transmission line route will run through parts of Adams, Christian, Clark, Coles, Edgar, Macon, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Scott and Shelby counties. Specifically, beginning at the point where it crosses the Mississippi River in Adams County, the main portion of the line will run through substations in or near Quincy, Meredosia, Pawnee, Pana, Mount Zion and Kansas. Another section runs from Meredosia to Ipava through parts of Cass, Fulton, Morgan and Schuyler counties. A separate line would wrap around the southwest side of Champaign County from Rising to Sidney.

The transmission line project is expected to take several years to complete and will be placed in service as sections are built, beginning in 2016 and extending to the end of 2019.

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If you think you may be affected by the FutureGen Pipeline or Ameren Illinois Rivers Powerline Project and/or are interested in a free consultation, contact our eminent domain landowner attorneys at 1-888-318-3761 or visit us on the web at www.landownerattorneys.com.