EnergyBiz - November 27, 2005 (News Release)

Seven large electric utilities and coal producers have joined together to develop a new generation of coal-fired generating plants. Mike Mudd, acting chief executive officer of the FutureGen Alliance and American Electric Power program manager of technology development, outlined the initiative in an article appearing in the November/December issue of EnergyBiz, which can be viewed at http://www.energybizmag.com.

"The partners will contribute approximately $250 million of the $950 million project costs and provide technical expertise and guidance," Mudd wrote. He continued:

"The principal components of FutureGen - coal gasification, electricity generation, hydrogen production, near-zero emissions and carbon capture - are all technically feasible, but have not been integrated or proven economic in an integrated system. The goal of FutureGen is to take these technologies to the next level - to demonstrate them in an integrated power plant and determine their real costs and operational capabilities.

"With its $950 million price tag and aggressive target operation date of 2012, the 275-megawatt FutureGen plant won't be inexpensive or easy, but it is essential to ensure that the United States continues to support the country's energy appetite with abundant domestic coal resources."

EnergyBiz magazine circulates to more than 20,000 executives and senior managers in the electric and natural gas industry, as well as industry experts, regulators and analysts. This month it was awarded a Gold medal in Folio magazine's prestigious Eddie Awards in the category of "energy/utilities/engineering."