SPRINGFIELD - The lengthy talks that led to Mattoon being chosen to host a massive experimental power plant mostly were secretive.

The Central Illinois community was one of four finalists trying to land the federal FutureGen project, and the consortium of private energy companies that would eventually pick a site kept its deliberations quiet.

But e-mails among Blagojevich administration leaders, federal officials and private businessmen give some insight into the lengthy contest that Mattoon eventually won, as well as how rumors spread when the federal government decided to pull its support.

Meetings were set. Reports were clarified. The secrecy itself was discussed.

"We have also put in place a confidentiality protocol to ensure the proposals are properly managed," a top FutureGen official wrote to state officials last year.

The e-mail messages among some of the insiders working Mattoon's bid recently were obtained by the Herald & Review Springfield Bureau from the state Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Gov. Rod Blagojevich declined the same request.

Many of the messages include highly technical discussions of geology and complex environmental standards. The technology FutureGen would use is relatively new: using coal but pumping pollutants underground.

The e-mails and letters the state provided are by no means exhaustive, but they show winning FutureGen's contest was a lengthy, intense process in which officials sought to leave no details out.

For example, Bill Hoback of Blagojevich's administration sent an e-mail in November to Michael Mudd, leader of the private companies planning to pay for part of the plant.

Hoback asked what U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, could say to federal Energy Secretary Sam Bodman in an upcoming meeting to help Illinois' cause. Mudd was happy to coach a bit.

"I suggest pressing for a firm commitment from the Secretary as to when the DOE (Department of Energy) will issue the Environmental Impact Statement, which is a precursor to final site selection," Mudd wrote.

The site selection date eventually would become a point of contention between the energy companies and federal government.

Citing in part the project's $1.8 billion price tag, the Department of Energy announced a new plan that didn't necessarily include building the large plant in Mattoon.

Federal lawmakers officially learned of the alternative plan in a meeting Jan. 29 with Bodman. But e-mails show rumors were flying days beforehand.

A Jan. 25 e-mail to Hoback references rumors from Indiana Congressman Pete Visclosky's staff.

"Yes. I am positive that is what Visclosky's staffer is saying," the message reads. "Very negative on FutureGen. Visclosky's staffer(s) have never been FutureGen fans, and everything we hear is that they would prefer that FutureGen go away."

Days later, the Department of Energy would officially announce its new plans.

The announcement was a blow to officials who had spent years wooing the federal project and millions of dollars on the effort, hoping the project would create thousands of new jobs.

Local officials expressed genuine surprise as the federal Department of Energy began pulling support for the project. A previously released letter from Bodman to Johnson weeks before Mattoon's announcement shows no sign of trouble.

Nor do letters from Mudd to Bodman and President Bush earlier in the year.

"(T)he global attraction to FutureGen is its bold vision, its uniqueness, and equally important, its aggressive schedule," Mudd wrote to Bush in October of last year.

Still, as the future of the project was drawing lots of questions in mid-January, state spokeswoman Marcelyn Love wrote to FutureGen officials, suggesting the group coordinate "short- and long-term press strategy."

Despite the tumultuous several months, Illinois FutureGen backers argue that the project still has a chance to be built in Mattoon.

To start, the companies backing it still are agreeing to put up their part of the money for the plant. And a new president could mean new policies for the Department of Energy.

Also, Congress could decide on its own just to pay for the FutureGen project in its previous form.

"We are committed to stay the course with the community to move forward this project," said Roger Gilchrist, FutureGen project development director. "And we will be spending our own resources until we have time to work with the new administration."

Mike Riopell can be reached at mike.riopell@lee.net or 789-0865.