Coal miner Peabody Energy
FutureGen is an alliance that includes Peabody, global miners BHP Billiton
Just last month, an Illinois site was selected for the plant. Meanwhile, the project's cost was spiraling ever higher. The DOE announced yesterday that it has pulled the plug on the power plant, whose cost had in fact roughly doubled. This has become rather commonplace in the mining sector, but at least a company like Goldcorp has upside from rising gold prices. This cost inflation is a deal-breaker for the DOE, which has dialed back its funding support to solely the carbon-sequestration element of any future project.
Fortunately, Peabody has a few more irons in the fire. There's the comparable GreenGen project in China, led by the parent of Huaneng Power
Peabody won't let this one domestic hitch stand in the way of its pursuit of next-generation coal technology. The company's future depends on it.