(October 14, 2006)—Gov. Rick Perry has accepted more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from groups involved in construction of 16 coal-burning power plants since he agreed to speed state approval of the projects.

A large cluster of those plants is proposed for Central Texas

Four of them are planned for McLennan County alone.

Retired TXU chairman Erle Nye contributed $2,000 on the date Perry signed the executive order to fast track the permitting process and has given $50,000 since.

TXU wants to build eleven new coal-fired plants in Texas.

Representatives of TXU and the Perry campaign said the donations were unrelated to the governor's decision.

Perry has received nearly $325,000 dollars from companies and executives associated with the proposed plants since he became governor.

In addition to TXU, the governor took contributions from Sempra Energy and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, which would benefit as a company that hauls coal to the new plants.

Governor, Candidate Information

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