either to move forward or to discontinue the project early in 2010." Revised project: FutureGen 2.0 On August 5, 2010, the DOE announced a retooling of the FutureGen project, dubbed FutureGen 2.0. The revised plan includes retrofitting a shuttered coal-fired power plant in Meredosia, Illinois to demonstrate advanced oxy-combustion technology, and piping the carbon dioxide 175 miles to Mattoon for underground storage. Due to these changes, leaders in Mattoon decided to drop out of the FutureGen project. The Illinois sites vying for the underground storage portion of the project were in Christian, Douglas, Fayette, and Morgan counties, after sites in Adams and Pike counties were cut in December 2010. In February 2011, Morgan County was chosen for the sequestration site. In Sept, 2014 FutureGen received the first-ever EPA permits for four class VI carbon dioxide sequestration wells in Morgan County, with plans to store 1.1 million metric tons per year for 20 years. Also in 2014 FutureGen survived a lawsuit from Illinois Electric utility ComEd, which challenged the state's ability to impose a surcharge on all customers to pay for FutureGen electricity. According to critics, including the Illinois Policy Institute, the plan presents major environmental and fiscal pitfalls. FutureGen 2.0 funding cancellation The Department of Energy ordered suspension of FutureGen 2.0 in February, 2015. The funds, appropriated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, needed to be committed by July 1 and spent by Sept 30, 2015. The government also cited the Alliance's inability to raise the requisite amount of private funding. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz explained at a press conference “If you look between now and July 1, without them having closed their financing, and try as we might, we just don’t see how it gets over the finish line.” At the time of suspension the power plant part of the project had spent $116.5 million and the sequestration part had spent $86 million. Alliance members The FutureGen Industrial Alliance is a consortium of 10 power producers and electric utilities from around the globe. Former members Four companies initially a part of the FutureGen Industrial Alliance have since dropped out of the project. See also Coal pollution mitigation Carbon capture and storage Combined cycle Gasification Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate North American Carbon Program References External links FutureGen Industrial Alliance, Inc Marshall University Studies related to the Clean Coal Initiative Clean Coal Push Concerns Environmental