SPRINGFIELD - A spokesman said Thursday that Gov. Rod Blagojevich plans to approve a final incentive package designed to lure the experimental FutureGen power plant to Illinois.

Earlier in the day, the measure was approved by the Senate by a 54-1 vote.

Mattoon and Tuscola are competing with two towns in Texas to land the federal project. Legislation approved Thursday is said to be key to that bid because it would prevent some lawsuits should FutureGen's technology malfunction.

Supporters say that's unlikely.

"They feel pretty good about this," state Sen. Gary Forby, D-Benton, said of the new technology. "They've done a lot of studying on this."

The plant would use coal, but would pump pollutants underground instead of into the air. Texas already has similar lawsuit protection.

State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, said the plan's approval marked a level cooperation that has been hard to come by in Springfield lately.

"This is a good example of Republicans and Democrats working together," he said.

Illinois' final pitch to FutureGen's developers is due Aug. 1, and a spokesman for the Blagojevich-controlled Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity said the governor would sign the legislation before that deadline.

"We have been working long and hard to bring FutureGen where it belongs," Blagojevich said in a statement. "This is the right decision for Illinois and our country because the science is on our side to make this project a tremendous success."

But the final decision is in the hands of FutureGen's developers, a coalition between the federal government and major energy companies.

That decision could come as early as this fall.