Press Releases
January 08, 2008
Contact: Lawrence Pacheco, FutureGen Alliance, (202) 715-1555
FutureGen Alliance Elects New Chairman of the Board
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FutureGen Alliance announced today that its board of directors has elected Paul W. Thompson of E.ON US as its next chairman of the board. Thompson replaces outgoing chairman Greg A. Walker, whose term ended Dec. 31.
"The Alliance has had great success with the environmental review and final site selection processes with Greg's outstanding leadership," said Thompson. "The Alliance is comprised of some of the world's leading energy and coal companies and it is an honor for me to be part of this highly esteemed consortium that is developing and building an historic project that will revolutionize the power industry."
FutureGen Alliance Chief Executive Officer Michael J. Mudd said Thompson's background with an international energy company will serve the Alliance well as it continues to move forward in building the world's first, near-zero emissions coal-fueled power plant.
"As a senior executive with the world's largest investor-owned energy services provider, Paul is a natural fit to lead the international consortium that is the FutureGen Alliance," said Mudd. "With Mattoon, Illinois as the site that will host the FutureGen facility, Paul will guide the Alliance through the critical activities and decisions in the coming year as we work to break ground in 2009 and continue our very aggressive schedule."
Thompson is a Senior Vice President of Energy Services at E.ON U.S. where he is responsible for generation, energy marketing and transmission operations. He held various positions at Louisville Gas & Electric and Kentucky Utilities, now wholly-owned subsidiaries of E.ON U.S., including Group Vice President of Marketing, Vice President of Retail Electric Business and Vice President of Business Development. Previously, Thompson served in several management positions for Koch Industries and Lone Star Technologies. He holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from MIT.
Walker, a senior vice president for Foundation Coal, will continue to serve on the Alliance Board of Directors.
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About the FutureGen Alliance
The FutureGen Alliance is a non-profit organization that represents 13 of the world's largest coal companies and electric utilities including: American Electric Power Service Corporation, Anglo American Services (UK) Limited, BHP Billiton Energy Coal, Inc., China Huaneng Group, CONSOL Energy Inc., E.ON U.S. LLC, Foundation Coal Corporation, Luminant, PPL Energy Services Group, LLC, Peabody Energy Corporation, Rio Tinto Energy America Services, Southern Company Services, Inc., and Xstrata Coal Pty Limited. The Alliance is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy to design and build the facility. Learn more about FutureGen and the Alliance at http://www.FutureGenAlliance.org/.