"WRIGHT, Wyo. -- In Wyoming, folks call it the 'No Elk' plant, an $800 million project that -- once finished -- was meant to supply coal-fired power to 100,000 homes and support dozens of full-time jobs on the rolling prairie of northeast Wyoming."

"Megawatts from the Two Elk Energy Park originally were supposed to begin flowing back when Bill Clinton was president. Instead, a series of hang-ups, including the global economic meltdown and difficulty finding an investor willing to share the cost, have kept Two Elk at a virtual standstill. All that's been built on the rolling northeast Wyoming prairie, a stone's throw from some of the world's biggest coal mines, is a metal storage building and part of the plant's foundation.

The power plant has received substantial local, state and federal government support: Almost half a billion dollars in tax-exempt municipal bonds, none of it spent yet, and more recently, $10 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants.

Now, Two Elk is up for a state permit extension -- its seventh in 16 years -- and even some former proponents are growing skeptical."

Mead Gruver reports for the Associated Press March 30, 2013. [2]