CARBONDALE - The Illinois Clean Coal Review Board voted Wednesday to reallocate grant money originally given to the FutureGen Alliance to help pay for construction costs.

The $2 million grant now will help pay for three studies the alliance will conduct in an attempt to keep the project moving forward, said the board's chairman, state Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville.

The research funded in part with the grant money will help keep the project going until a new administration is in Washington, D.C., board and alliance members said.

Although there is no guarantee either presidential candidate will go forward with the plans for FutureGen, the alliance wants to continue its work.

"We all have a big stake in this, and this will hopefully help us move forward," Reitz said.

Construction plans for the nearly zero-emissions, coal-fueled power plant to be built in Mattoon were put on hold in January, when the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would look into different options to reduce carbon emissions.

The FutureGen project, which the department and alliance would fund, was set to be operational by the end of 2012. After the Department of Energy revoked its support, the project's progress stalled.

The grant money will go to three studies that will evaluate the plant's future operations.

"It sounds really like we're heading in the right direction," said state Rep. Roger Eddy, R-Hutsonville.

"For this project to be real, we must go forward with this site," said Roger Gilchrist, FutureGen's executive director of project development.

During the meeting, alliance members gave the board a full report of its work to date, current projects and plans.

In preparation for the plant, the alliance has drawn up plans for the plant and costs for building and operating the plant. Gilchrist said in making these plans, the alliance has done the background work necessary to start building.

Angela Griffin, executive director of Coles Together, updated the board on the community response for the project in Mattoon, where the plant would be located.

Although construction is on hold, she said, people statewide have offered support.

"They all understand the value of this project," she said. "They understand what this means for everybody."

Laura Chapman can be reached laura.chapman@thesouthern.com.