DYNEGY TO BUILD POWER PLANT IN WEST GEORGIA
Heard County Power Plant Will Generate Power To Meet Peak Demand in the
Southeast
HOUSTON, March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynegy Inc. (NYSE: DYN) today announced plans to construct a 500-megawatt (MW) natural gas-fired generation facility in Heard County, Ga. Upon completion of approvals from local and state authorities and regulatory officials, construction on the Heard County Power Plant is expected to begin in early 2000. Dynegy will invest more than $100 million in the project and will sell the power generated at the facility in the wholesale market to investor-owned utilities, electric cooperatives and municipalities when commercial operations begin during the second quarter of 2001. The Heard County Commission voted in favor of signing a memorandum of understanding in support of the power plant on March 9.
"The Heard County Power Plant is one of several merchant power plant development projects, acquisitions and existing facility expansions that Dynegy will be undertaking in 1999 as the company continues to increase its generation assets in key markets and integrate them with our marketing and trading capabilities," said Chuck Watson, chairman and chief executive officer of Dynegy. "The Southeast is one of the fastest growing markets in the country for power sales. Dynegy will meet the growing wholesale demands by increasing its owned and controlled generation capacity in this region by several thousand megawatts in the next three years."
The Heard County Power Plant will be located off of Joe Stephens Road near Franklin, Ga. The facility will include three 167-MW simple-cycle combustion turbines. Natural gas delivered through the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line will be used as fuel to generate electricity and a 500 kV interconnection, which is part of the Georgia Integrated Transmission System (GaITS), will provide transmission access for power transactions.
"A site that would enable us to respond to future market conditions was a key element in our selection process," said Steve Bergstrom, president and chief operating officer of Dynegy Marketing and Trade. "The proposed site for the Heard County Power Plant is also ideal for a combined-cycle generation facility, which would make a conversion from peaking to combined-cycle possible when market demand shifts during the next three to four years."
The Heard County Power Plant will become Dynegy's fourth facility in the SERC region. In June 1998, Dynegy announced plans to construct a 600-MW natural gas-fired, peaking facility in Rockingham County, N.C. Since the announcement, the company has elected to expand the facility to five units with a generating capacity of 800 MW. Dynegy also owns interests in a 340-MW generation facility in Chesapeake, Va. and a 300-MW facility in Hartwell, Ga.
In addition to Dynegy's generation facilities in the Southeast, SouthStar Energy Services, LLC, an alliance composed of AGL Resources, Dynegy and Piedmont Natural Gas Company, is providing unregulated energy products and services to residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout the region. SouthStar markets under the name of Georgia Natural Gas in Georgia.
The capacity of Dynegy's 31 U.S. generation assets currently operating or in final development is more than 6,800 gross MW. This includes the recently announced purchase of the Encina Power Plant and 17 combustion turbines from San Diego Gas & Electric Company, as well as the Rocky Road Power Plant, a 250-MW natural gas-fueled, peak-demand generation facility currently under construction in East Dundee, Ill.
Dynegy, formerly known as NGC Corp., is one of the country's leading marketers of energy products and services. The name Dynegy reflects the company's evolution from a natural gas marketing company to a dynamic energy company with a fully integrated energy network to meet the growing challenges of the energy market of the future. Through its leadership position in gathering, processing, transportation, independent power generation, and marketing of energy, the company provides energy solutions to its customers located primarily in North America and the United Kingdom.
For more information about Dynegy, please visit its web site at
www.dynegy.com
SOURCE Dynegy Inc.
-0- 03/10/99 /CONTACT: media, John Sousa, 713-507-3936, or analyst, Margaret Nollen, 713-767-8707, both of Dynegy Inc./
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/Web site: http://www.dynegy.com/ (DYN)
CO: Dynegy Inc. ST: Texas, Georgia IN: OIL UTI SU: