AMP-Ohio Takes Next Step Toward Becoming A National Utility Leader In Energy Efficiency
Release Date: 2008-02-14 
AMP-Ohio Takes Next Step Toward Becoming A National Utility Leader In Energy Efficiency

For Immediate Release
February 14, 2008
Contact:

Kent Carson
Phone: 614/337-6222
Cell: 614/578-5389
kcarson@amp-ohio.org

AMP-Ohio closes On Equity Ownership of Prairie State Project

For Immediate Release
December 20, 2007
Contact: Kent Carson

614/337-6222
614/578-5389 (cell)
kcarson@amp-ohio.org

(COLUMBUS) American Municipal Power-Ohio (AMP-Ohio) has finalized arrangements for an equity ownership of the Prairie State Energy Campus. AMP-Ohio has completed a transaction with Peabody Energy to purchase 368 megawatts of the project, which includes an additional 68 megawatts of power, more than 23% of Prairie State’s generating capacity. Project ownership of the 1,600 MW supercritical power plant is fully subscribed. The effective date of the transaction is December 20, 2007.

“Participating in Prairie State is core to our strategy of securing a clean, low-cost, long-term supply of electricity to serve our 123 member communities,” said AMP-Ohio President and CEO Marc S. Gerken. “The addition of this new base load electric generation is critical to meeting our customers’ demand for reliable, affordable power and gives our organization its strategically needed base load capacity in the MISO territory.”

The Prairie State equity partner group includes the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA), Indiana Municipal Power Agency (IMPA), Kentucky Municipal Power Agency (KMPA), Missouri Joint Municipal Electric Utility Commission (MJMEUC), Northern Illinois Municipal Power Agency (NIMPA), Prairie Power Inc. Southern Illinois Power Cooperative (SIPC) and Peabody Energy subsidiary Lively Grove Energy Partners.

Prairie State is a planned 1,600 megawatt supercritical electricity generating station that will be among the cleanest U.S. coal-fueled power plants generating low-cost electricity to more than 2.5 million people throughout the Midwest and eastern United States. The power plant will begin operation in the 2011-2012 timeframe.

######

AMP-Ohio To Further Explore Energy Efficiency Programs

For Immediate Release
December 3, 2007
Contact: Kent Carson

614/337-6222
614/578-5389 (cell)
kcarson@amp-ohio.org

AMP-OHIO TO FURTHER EXPLORE ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS

(COLUMBUS) The AMP-Ohio Board of Trustees in November approved a contract with Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (VEIC) to develop a set of state-of-the-art energy efficiency programs for AMP-Ohio member communities. These programs would be a part of the organization’s overall integrated resource strategy to address not only the power supply side, which includes reliable, cost-predictable generation assets and an increased development of renewable resources, but also the demand side of the equation.

VEIC is a recog¬nized leader in developing energy efficiency programs. The company has extensive experience in energy efficiency program analysis, design, and implementation. VEIC currently has clients in 25 states and several countries, with specific experience in working with municipal electric systems and rural electric cooperatives. VEIC has significant experience making energy efficiency programs work for customers, since it administers Efficiency Vermont, the nation’s first statewide “energy efficient utility”.

The first phase of this initiative will involve the design of a menu of efficiency programs based on VEIC’s experience and AMP-Ohio’s goals of cost control, risk mitigation, fairness in the way the program is funded and opportunity for all member communities to participate, regardless of size. The menu will include programs suitable for industrial, commercial and residential customers.

“AMP-Ohio is committed to a multifaceted power supply strategy that includes moving our members from an over-reliance on power purchased from the volatile wholesale market to generation assets that the organization will own or control,” AMP-Ohio President/CEO Marc Gerken said. “These assets will include state-of-the-art coal facilities, and an increase in hydroelectric, wind, landfill gas and natural gas generation. Energy efficiency is an important part of our overall strategy because it will slow the growth of energy use and minimize the environmental impact associated with our members’ electric demand. These programs will also lower customer bills in member communities, improving affordability and business competitiveness.

“We currently offer our members a variety of environmental stewardship programs, as well as programs designed to increase system efficiency. Our partnership with VEIC will help us take these efforts to the next level,” said Gerken. “VEIC has a strong track record in this area and we’re pleased to be working with them.”

At the end of this phase of partnership with VEIC, AMP-Ohio will be able to determine which programs make sense to pursue, the potential megawatt and megawatt-hour savings, and the program costs and benefits. AMP-Ohio members will have before them a set of basic program designs and an implementation strategy that will allow the organization to issue request-for-proposals to contractors. This phase is projected to be complete in February.

In January, 2007, AMP-Ohio joined the Midwest Carbon Sequestration Partnership, one of seven regional partnerships created by the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory that are currently studying geologic and terrestrial carbon sequestration. Last June, the organization joined the Chicago Climate Exchange, the world’s first and North America’s only voluntary, legally binding rules-based greenhouse gas emission reduction and trading system.