Texas city, power company await word on $350 million in fed funding to help build coal plant

Texas city, company await word on $350M funding

LUBBOCK, Texas — The mood around Odessa, Texas, was glum when the city missed out on a one-of-a-kind coal power plant to be built through a public-private venture.

But when word came that Mattoon, Ill., was chosen as the site for FutureGen plant, most involved in pitching Odessa for the $1.5 billion near-zero emissions plant got to work to bring something similar to West Texas.

City officials and Seattle-based Summit Power have worked for two years to utilize the legwork that went into applying for FutureGen. And believe they are days away from learning whether they’ve snared $350 million in stimulus funds from the Department of Energy to build a commercial power plant.

An announcement was expected before the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which begins Monday in Copenhagen.