Many people who have worked to bring the FutureGen power plant to Illinois plan to stay in state as officials announce the project's chosen location Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

State officials have been attempting to draw the $2 billion, coal-fired, zero-emissions plant to Illinois since Mattoon and Tuscola were named with two Texas cities as finalist sites in July 2006. Bill Hoback, director of the Illinois Office of Coal Development, said the rumor mill has been empty and no word has leaked on which site will be chosen.

"If there's been a decision made by the (FutureGen) Alliance, they've done a great job keeping it under wraps," he said.

Representatives of the Alliance, the partnership of energy companies planning the project, will make the final announcement at 9 a.m. CST at the National Press Club in Washington. Alliance spokeswoman Laura Sheehan said she did have a list of responding guests as of Wednesday, but many Illinois officials have chosen to stay in state.

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, which oversees Hoback's office, has been working to organize a gathering for the announcement. Hoback told the event organizer, "When Tuesday rolls around, you tell me where you want me to be and I'll be there." The individual cities in central Illinois will host gatherings for cities to watch the Webcast of the official announcement.

John Mead, director of the Coal Research Center at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, also said he plans to "try to be wherever I'm needed." The university and the coal center have been major factors in Illinois' self-promotion to attract the plant.

While Mead hopes to be celebrating an Illinois announcement in Mattoon or Tuscola, SIU President Glenn Poshard will be "following every minute of it" from Springfield. With the state House of Representatives returning to session Monday, and the state Senate possibly following suit, Poshard will be waiting to see if the legislature discusses a capital bill so he can participate in the discussion.

"I had two things on my Christmas list," Poshard said. "One was FutureGen in Illinois and the other was a capital bill."

The announcement of the final location was originally scheduled to be made in September, but the timeline for the process had to be adjusted. The U.S. Department of Energy will announce the results of its record of decision study, which Sheehan said will certify all four sites as being qualified for the plant, on Monday.

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