Industrial Info Resources (www.industrialinfo.com) is monitoring 584 future environmental compliance projects totaling $48 billion at U.S. coal-fired power plants with scheduled completion dates between 2007 and 2010.

For 2007, environmental compliance project spending is expected to exceed $15 billion, with another $14 billion spent in 2008. Spending in 2009 and 2010 is forecast at about $9 billion and $12 billion, respectively.

Other industrial “hotspots” tracked by Industrial Info include:

Gulf Coast Region: Representing about 10% of the nation’s industrial project spending, based on projects scheduled to begin construction in 2007 or beyond, the U.S. Gulf Coast is one of the nation’s key industrial regions. This area includes the coastal areas of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, as well as Florida’s Gulf of Mexico border. Industrial Info is tracking more than $82 billion in industrial projects scheduled to begin construction in 2007 or beyond. More than 1,100 projects are in various stages of pre-commissioned status, including planning, engineering or under construction. The majority of the project development in the Gulf Coast Region is for energy-related projects, such as power plants, petroleum refineries, LNG, oil and natural gas terminals, ethanol and petrochemicals.

Northeast Region: The Northeast Region is currently forecast to complete construction of 95 new plants throughout 2007. This represents an impressive 55% increase over the region’s figures for 2006. Last year, 61 new facilities were finished in the Northeast, which includes the states of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. For 2007, as was the case for 2006, Pennsylvania claimed the majority of new builds, with 40 plants. New York is not far behind with 37 sites. The remainder is found in New Jersey, with 18 new facilities.

New England Region: The New England Region is currently on track for the construction of 150 new industrial facilities representing total investment value of over $20.7 billion. Every state in the region, which includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, is currently in line to reap at least a part of the forecasted capital investment. Massachusetts is the leader by hosting a whopping 55 projects, which represent 30% of all currently reported activity.

Harris County, TX: At the beginning of the year, Harris County, TX, was identified as one of the top 20 U.S. counties for industrial project spending in 2007. With almost half of 2007 in the record books, industrial project spending in 2007 is on track with the initial forecast of $1.6 billion in Harris County. However, the number of projects has increased from 93 up to 102. These projects have either begun construction or are scheduled to begin construction in 2007. One of the larger projects, which has already begun construction in Harris County this year, is a $100 million phase 2 expansion of a polysilicon manufacturing plant owned by MEMC in Pasadena, TX. This project is part of a worldwide trend of polysilicon manufacturers to increase capacity due to increasing demand from semiconductor and solar application markets. Polysilicon manufacturers are planning more than $3 billion in capacity expansion projects in the U.S. alone over the next 2-3 years.

Chicago Area: The Greater Chicago Area, which consists of the counties of Cook, Will, DuPage and Lake, has always been a solid cornerstone of manufacturing for the Great Lakes Region. Currently, Industrial Info is tracking almost 80 capital and maintenance projects worth over $4.5 billion that are scheduled to begin construction in the Chicago area in June 2007 or beyond, an increase of approximately 30% over the construction activity planned as of this time last year.