The Clean Coal Technology Demonstration Program is a government and industry cofunded technology development effort to demonstrate a new generation of innovative coal utilization processes in a series of full-scale facilities. The goal of the program is to provide the US energy marketplace with a number of advanced, more efficient and environmentally responsive coal-using technologies. The Morgantown Energy Technology Center (METC) has the responsibility for monitoring the CCT Projects within certain technology categories, which correspond to the centers areas of technology development, including atmospheric fluidized bed combustion, pressurized fluidized bed combustion, integrated gasification combined cycle, mild gasification, and industrial applications. A measure of success in the CCT program will be the commercial acceptance of the new technologies being demonstrated. The dissemination of project information to potential users is being accomplished by producing a series of reference plant designs which will provide the users a basis for the selection of technologies applicable to their future energy requirements. As a part of DOEs monitoring and evaluation of the CCT Projects, Gilbert/Commonwealth (G/C) has been contracted to assist in this effort by producing the design of a commercial size Reference Plant, utilizing technologies developed in the CCT Program. This report, the first in a series, describes the design of a 400 MW electric power plant, utilizing an atmospheric pressure, circulating fluidized bed combustor (ACFB) similar to the one which was demonstrated at Colorado-Ute`s Nucla station, funded in Round 1 of the CCT Program. The intent of the reference plant design effort was to portray a commercial power plant with attributes considered important to the utility industry. The logical choice for the ACFB combustor was Pyropower since they supplied the ACFB for the Nucla Project.