Utility positions pay quite well, if you can get them, and plenty of OT--even if you DON'T want it. Then again, it ain't just, "Flippin the switches and impressin the bitches," either. It takes a good deal of experience and it ain't sitting at a desk sippin coffee type of work.
However, I'm thinking $800 million for a gasification plant? Seems a bit high. To power 275K homes is about 300 MW. You can build a dual 500MW plant (1000MW total) for less than that, and that's just to run the stoves/dryers/heaters, not provide electricity.
Yeah, someone isn't really looking at the cost here, methinks.