The Chicago Tribune reports that “state regulators have the right to force Illinois consumers to purchase electricity from a proposed “clean coal” facility for the next 20 years in order to help fund the $1.6 billion federal project, according to an appellate court decision handed down Tuesday.”  

“The 2-1 decision could represent a potential leap forward for the federal FutureGen 2.0 project, which has been stalled through two Presidential administrations in various forms.”  

“The plan is to retrofit an existing coal-fired power plant in Meredosia in western Illinois to prove that coal-fired power can exist in a carbon-free world. The plant’s carbon dioxide emissions would be sequestered underground and would burn Illinois coal beginning in 2017.”