CSW Energy and Eastman Chemical Company Are Constructing a New Cogeneration Facility

CSW Energy, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Central and South West Corporation, and Eastman Chemical Company are constructing and operating a 440-megawatt cogeneration facility together. The new facility, which will be located at the Texas Eastman chemical facility in Longview, TX, will be known as the Eastex Cogeneration Project.

Construction of the facility is scheduled to begin in mid-1999, with expected operation in March 2001. When completed, the plant will provide a significant portion of the steam and all electricity requirements needed by the chemical plant. It will also supply future growth in Eastman's steam requirements at the site that could not be met with the existing equipment. The natural gas-fired plant is expected to reduce Texas Eastman's steam and electricity costs. Additional electricity generated by the plant will be sold by CSWE in the wholesale electricity market.

"This facility will meet the most stringent combustion control standards for nitrogen oxide (NOx) ever required for a facility of this type in Texas," said Terry Dennis, president and chief executive officer of CSWE. "The project will eliminate more than 2.2 million pounds of NOx emissions annually, which is equivalent to the removal of 50,000 passenger vehicles from area roadways."

CSWE, and its international affiliate CSW International, Inc., develop, acquire, construct, own and operate power production and distribution facilities in the United States and worldwide. CSWE focuses on the U.S. independent power market.