SPRINGFIELD - After more than a year of prodding, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has agreed to release $14.1 million to help build a coal-to-gas energy plant in Decatur.

The release of the grant funds was announced Wednesday by Senate Minority Leader Frank Watson, R-Greenville, who said he's been constantly bugging the governor to get moving on the money.

"Every time he's in the room, I bring it up," said Watson, whose district encompasses the project.

St. Louis-based Secure Energy Inc. has been waiting for aides to the governor to sign off on the grant since April 2007.

The money was the last step in a two-year process the company has gone through to bring the plant and its jobs to a site near Decatur's Caterpillar Inc. factory.

The company last year purchased property behind the Caterpillar plant to produce synthetic natural gas from Illinois coal.

It will generate up to 40 permanent jobs, as well as dozens of trucking and coal-mining jobs.

Kelley Quinn, spokeswoman for the governor's budget office, said the money was delayed because the project is a first for the state.

"A project of this magnitude, obviously we had to take our time on it," Quinn said.

In addition to bringing jobs to Macon County, supporters say the plant could help the state's coal industry.

A portion of the coal for the plant will come from the Viper Mine in Elkhart in Logan County.

"It's exactly what we should be about," Watson said.

"It fits in with our priorities," Quinn added.

The $250 million plant will convert up to 1.4 million tons per year of high-sulfur Illinois coal into pipeline-quality natural gas.

The land and plant purchased by Secure Energy once were part of the Decatur Caterpillar complex. A boiler was built more than 25 years ago by Caterpillar but never used.

Kurt Erickson can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 789-0865.