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Agreement will add two existing power plants to the PSI system in Indiana
CINCINNATI, Dec. 20, 2002 -- The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission on Thursday approved a settlement agreement between PSI Energy, the state's Utility Consumer Counselor; and the staff of the regulatory commission to add two existing power plants to the PSI system to serve the growing electric demand in Indiana.
In September the state's Consumer Counselor, commission staff and PSI reached an agreement for PSI to purchase Cinergy's Henry County, Indiana, and Butler County, Ohio, gas-fired peaking power plants. PSI also needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to complete the acquisition.
"We are pleased with today's decision," said PSI President Doug Esamann. "It's been almost eight years since we last added to our generation system, and PSI's customer demand for power has grown significantly over that time. Despite a slower economy last summer, our customers set records for electric use. The Henry and Butler County plants are already built, operational and interconnected to our system. They have excellent operating records and are a good fit in the PSI system."
Previously Cinergy sold power from the facilities on the wholesale power market. The transfer of the plants to regulated operations would dedicate the energy first to serve PSI customers. The regulatory commission's approval permits PSI to acquire the two plants at a price based on the net book value of the facilities.
Gas-fired peaking plants are highly efficient and environmentally friendly power generating facilities used to produce electricity during times of high customer demand, usually during the summer when customers use more electricity for air conditioning. Because the plants run on natural gas and are designed so that they can be brought on line quickly when demand for power peaks, they will help diversify the company's current generation assets which are primarily coal-fired and operate around-the-clock.
The Henry County Generating Station is capable of producing 136 megawatts, 50 of which will remain dedicated to wholesale power use. The Madison Generating Station in Butler County, Ohio, can produce 576 megawatts. Both are natural gas-fired units. PSI Energy is Indiana's largest electric supplier, serving more than 700,000 customers in portions of 69 of Indiana's 92 counties. Its parent company is Cinergy Corp., based in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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