Report: Excelsior Energy Could Run Out Of Gas
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) -- Excelsior Energy was once hailed as a project that would bring jobs to the Iron Range while cleanly tapping American coal. But the Duluth News Tribune reports it's in danger of running out of gas if it can't attract additional investments soon.
The newspaper reports in a two-part series this week that Excelsior has yet to move a shovelful of dirt or find a customer for its power.
The project has morphed from a $2.1 billion gasified coal plant when it was proposed in 2001 into a conventional natural gas-fired plant. The newspaper says Excelsior has already burned through nearly $20 million in state finding and will soon exhaust more than $22 million in federal money.
CEO Tom Micheletti refuses to say how much money Excelsior has left or where it will turn next, but expresses confidence in its future.
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