GILLETTE -- Now that state energy officials are in the advanced stages of brokering new high-voltage connections to major markets in the West, they have formally expanded their scope to include the promotion of cleaner coal technologies to energize those projects.

The Wyoming Infrastructure Authority announced Monday it is asking for formal expressions of interest from private developers to launch a demonstration of electrical generation through the in-state gasification of Wyoming coal.

The move represents a strategic effort by Wyoming energy officials to capitalize on what Congress promised a year ago in the Energy Policy Act of 2005: to provide technical and financial incentives to prove that Western coal is an economic fuel for integrated gasification combined cycle technology, or IGCC, at higher altitudes.

Wyoming's "request for proposal" is based on criteria that would meet the federal program an attempt to better the state's odds in winning federal dollars for the project.

"This (request for proposal) is our message to industry that the time is right for a partnership to prove IGCC technology can work on a commercial scale using Wyoming coal at altitude," said Michael Easley, Infrastructure Authority board chairman. "We believe the challenges, such as coal moisture content and combustion at elevation, can be overcome if we work together on a robust demonstration of the technology."

IGCC is a process that converts coal to a synthetic gas, which is then burned to generate electricity with nearly zero emissions because impurities such as carbon dioxides, mercury and particulates, are captured in elemental form. American Electric Power and other major U.S. utilities say they are looking to IGCC as the nation's future electrical generation model because of global warming concerns.

California, for example, has expressed interest in receiving thousands of new megawatts from Wyoming through the proposed Frontier Line project, but says it won't accept power from sources that emit carbon dioxide which occur at pulverized coal plants.

Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., helped insert the Western IGCC demonstration mandate into the Energy Policy Act, but so far Congress has yet to provide funds or a timeline for the project. Thomas' spokesman Cameron Hardy said the Infrastructure Authority's actions this week are a continuation of coordinated efforts.

"Federal policy was only part of the equation here," said Hardy. "The Infrastructure Authority has done a great job of taking the ball and running with it."

Hardy said Thomas will meet with the Infrastructure Authority this week to express his hope that they will also promote coal-to-liquids efforts in Wyoming. Hardy noted that companies interested in developing coal-to-liquids enterprises in Wyoming, such as DKRW Energy in Medicine Bow, are simply waiting for federal loan guarantees to become available another tool provided for in the Energy Policy Act.

The Infrastructure Authority can participate in planning, financing, constructing, developing, acquiring, maintaining and operating electric transmission facilities and their supporting infrastructure. Its biggest financial tool is the ability to issue up to $1 billion in industrial bonds to back such projects.

To those ends, the agency is already in the advanced stages in projects to string high-voltage transmission from Wyoming to eastern Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California.

This year the state legislature expanded the powers of the Infrastructure Authority to invest in clean coal technologies, such as IGCC.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal said this week's call to action by the Infrastructure Authority is a continuation of the state efforts to export more power and meet demands for cleaner power sources.

"The State of Wyoming has been watching as new coal technologies have begun to emerge elsewhere in the U.S. The authority has now taken its first leadership step to proactively promote this advanced coal technology in Wyoming," Freudenthal said. "It is a very positive step for the future of our economy."

Western Resource Advocates published a study in April suggesting that Wyoming could lose significant revenue from its coal industry if it isn't able to capitalize on future IGCC markets.

Loss in sales to Midwest utilities alone could represent an annual $60 million loss in state and local revenues in Wyoming by 2020, Bruce Driver, co-author of the study, told Wyoming Infrastructure board members last week.

"This is not chump change. This is big stuff," Driver said. "We believe IGCC will help preserve markets for Wyoming coal."

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 682-3388 or dustin.bleizeffercasperstartribune.net.