Equipment maker Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill., said on Feb. 8 that it would join the FutureGen Alliance, a public-private partnership set to build a 275-MW clean-coal powerplant in Mattoon, Ill., although it did not disclose the amount of its investment. Caterpillar’s announcement follows a similar move on Jan. 30 by Chicago-based Exelon Corp. Caterpillar, which manufactures coal mining equipment, says the alliance will help demonstration carbon-capture and sequestration technologies that are “absolutely essential” to cut greenhouse-gas emissions. It is the alliance’s 11th member. FutureGen still awaits word from the U.S. Energy Dept. on whether the agency will back the $1.5-billion project. DOE has said it will decide in early 2010. Lawrence Pacheco, a FutureGen spokesman, says engineering contracts will be awarded after DOE makes its decision on the plant.