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ST. LOUIS, Feb. 5, 2004 -- Peabody Energy has received a draft air permit from the State of Illinois for its planned Prairie State Energy Campus in Washington County.
Prairie State is a proposed 1,500 megawatt electric generating plant that would be fueled by 6 million tons of coal produced each year from an adjacent mine. The campus would provide clean, low-cost electricity and hundreds of jobs that will bring long-term economic benefits to the region.
Prairie State will use advanced emission control technologies enabling it to operate cleaner than the existing averages for U.S. coal-fueled plants, Illinois coal plants and proposed future emission limits.
Prairie State would provide electricity for more than 1 million families and is expected to be a magnet for businesses and economic development. A study by Southern Illinois University at Carbondale projects that Prairie State would annually inject $93 million into the Illinois economy and create approximately 450 skilled, permanent Illinois jobs with wages estimated to be 40 percent higher than the state average.
Prairie State is the second largest capital project planned for Illinois this decade. Prairie State has received a number of other permits and has executed an electricity transmission agreement to interconnect with the Illinois Power system.
"Prairie State is a model for new generating plants in America, using advanced technology to provide clean, low-cost electricity," said Peabody Executive Vice President of Corporate Development Roger B. Walcott Jr. "America's improving economy, coupled with the high price of natural gas and constraints with other fuels, underscores the need for Prairie State. We applaud the State of Illinois for creating legislation that encourages economic growth and uses the state's abundant coal resources."
Prairie State is a sister project to Peabody's planned Thoroughbred Energy Campus in Muhlenberg County, Ky. Peabody is engaged in due diligence discussions with partners that would invest in and manage operations at the two generating plants, as well as discussions to sell electricity on a long- term basis to electricity distributors including utilities, co-ops and municipals.
Peabody Energy is a private-sector coal company, with 2003 sales of 203 million tons and $2.8 billion in revenues. Its coal products fuel approximately 9.8 percent of all U.S. electricity generation and nearly 2.5 percent of worldwide electricity generation.
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