Quinn, a Democrat, said he vetoed S.B. 1927 and S.B. 3388 on March 14 because they failed to provide sufficient protection for consumers against potentially high gas prices from plants proposed by Power Holdings of Illinois and Leucadia National. Since then, Quinn has indicated he would like to find a way to back the building of coal gasification plants in the Illinois Basin state. The question, however, remains how.
Steve Shaw, Power Holdings’ CFO, said his company has spoken with the governor’s office since the veto about the $2.3 billion project targeted for Waltonville in Jefferson County. “For us, the governor’s going to have to show some leadership. We were on a track to commence construction and he was standing in the way. We’re flexible. A lot of ideas have been put forward.”
