But federal energy officials deflected the notion that the timing of Thursday's formal announcement had anything to do with politics.

"This [selection] process has gone on for more than a year and the decisions were made by career professionals, not politicians," said Spencer Abraham, U.S. secretary of energy.

The plant could mean at least 1,500 high-paying design and construction jobs.

Abraham and his staff said that the project, a partnership between the city-owned Orlando Utilities Commission and Atlanta- based Southern Company, was chosen from a field of 13 applicants nationwide as part of President Bush's Clean Coal Power Initiative.

Abraham said that the plant, expected to begin construction in 2007 at OUC's Stanton Energy Center, won't burn coal directly, but will convert coal into a synthetic gas and use that to fire the power plant.

It will be designed to capture most of the pollutants before entering the environment, he said.

The idea is to use America's large supply of coal, often associated with both pollution and global warming, in a clean way to reduce the country's dependence on foreign sources of fuel, said Mark Maddox, the Energy Department's principal deputy assistant secretary.

"The whole goal is to create the next generation of environmentally friendly power plants," he said.

Gov. Jeb Bush attended a ceremony to applaud the move. "We intend to grow as a state and we need reliable, clean energy to continue to grow," he said.

Ken Ksionek, OUC's general manager, said that for the OUC customer, the plant will mean cheaper utility rates in the long run, because foreign sources of fuel, including natural gas, are expected to rise in costs, while America has an estimated 300-year supply of coal.

The total project is expected to cost about $570 million and is expected to be completed in 2010.