Team tours site

By Linda Stewart/Wichita Falls Times Record News
January 27, 2006

VERNON, TEXAS (Special) — A delegation of local and FutureGen Texas team representatives visited the AEP Oklaunion Power Station plant Thursday morning.

FutureGen is a combined Department of Energy and industry effort to build a coal-powered plant to produce electricity and hydrogen. States across the country are vying to become the site for the $1 billion prototype plant for the new pollution free technology that creates power by gasifying coal.

FutureGen Texas team members are visiting nine sites in the state named as finalists by regional council of government agencies. The group will name a short list of "maybe five finalists" for the site of the power plant/research lab plant after visits are made to the sites, according to team member Chuck McDonald.

McDonald said all Texas sites would be visited by Feb. 9.

Texas team members making the visit here were Dr. Scott Tinker, a state geologist who is heading the team; Dr. Jerry Hill an engineer; Steve Waldren, a former TCEQ consultant; and McDonald who handles community outreach.

Local leaders at the conclave included NORTEX officials, and representatives of state Sen. Craig Estes, state Rep. Rick Hardcastle, and U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry.

McDonald said that a short list of states should be available by the middle of this year and that we should know by the end of the year if Texas is still in contention for the project.

He said that this area's regional council of government did a great job within a very short time frame making an excellent presentation for the Oklaunion site. He said the site here is unique in that it is located next to a currently operating site.

"When a final site is selected for the state, our team will work with them. We would love to see this happen in Texas," Tinker said.

He said it was his opinion that Texas has about a one in three chance of winning the FutureGen project with best site location.

Financial incentives of up to $1.5 million by directors of the Business Development Corporation as well as a tax abatement program by Wilbarger County are part of the proposal to help bring the FutureGen power plant to Wilbarger County according to BDC president/CEO Sea Stockard.

Local leaders said Thursday that other tax abatements and incentives are likely to be added to the proposal.