Cinergy, WVPA Reach Tentative Agreement That Keeps Wabash River Energy Syngas Plant Operational

(I-Newswire) February 9, 2005 - WVPA purchased a 50 percent interest in the facility in mid-January from Global Energy. The tentative agreement will allow the Wabash River Energy synthetic gas plant, which has been idle since January 2004 and employs 50 people, to return to service. It will now operate under the name of SG Solutions LLC. Cinergy/PSI burns the synthetic gas from the plant in a combined cycle turbine generator capable of producing 281 megawatts of electricity.

"This is an opportunity to revive the synthetic gas plant and keep a promising clean coal technology operational," said PSI President Kay Pashos. "Economically, this agreement is also good for our customers."

Cinergy/PSI and WVPA are also discussing the conditional sale of the combined cycle turbine generator to WVPA by December 31, 2007, provided that Cinergy/PSI can acquire adequate replacement electric capacity and the necessary regulatory approvals.

Gasification is the process of converting coal or substances such as petroleum coke into a synthetic gas and removing pollutants before the gas is burned to produce electricity. In operation since 1995, the plant was originally part of a demonstration project through the Department of Energy's Clean Coal program, which encourages advanced technologies for environmentally clean power generation with coal. At the Wabash River facility, gas made from coal can be burned cleanly in a combustion turbine to generate electricity, while exhaust heat from the turbine is used to produce steam to power generating unit 1 at Cinergy/PSI's adjacent Wabash River Station. The combination of gas and steam turbine generators produce 281 megawatts of electricity.

Cinergy/PSI and WVPA will work toward a final agreement. If finalized, the agreement would extend until 2007. Additional terms of the tentative agreement were not disclosed.

Cinergy/PSI is Indiana's largest electric supplier, serving more than 700,000 customers in portions of 69 of the state's 92 counties.

Wabash Valley Power Association (WVPA) is a 27-member generation and transmission cooperative headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind. The association's member distribution cooperatives provide electricity to over 325,000 retail customers throughout Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. In achieving its corporate goal of low-cost wholesale supply for its members, Wabash Valley manages a diverse mix of power supply options, including both plant ownership and wholesale market purchases. Wabash Valley is a founding member of ACES Power Marketing, one of the nation's largest physical traders of electricity, the Midwest Independent System Operator and Touchstone Energy, the nationwide alliance of over 600 customer-owned electric cooperatives.

This document includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by terms and phrases such as "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "continue", "should", "coul d", "may", "plan", "project", "predict", "will", and similar expressions. Forward- looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from the results predicted. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in any forward-looking statement include, but are not limited to, unanticipated weather conditions; unscheduled generation outages; unusual maintenance or repairs; unanticipated changes in costs; environmental incidents, including costs of compliance with existing and future environmental requirements; electric transmission or gas pipeline system constraints; legislative and regulatory initiatives; additional competition in electric or gas markets and continued industry consolidation; financial or regulatory accounting principles; political, legal, and economic conditions and developments in the countries in which we have a presence; changing market conditions and other factors related to physical energy and financial trading activities; the performance of projects undertaken by our non-regulated businesses and the success of efforts to invest in and develop new opportunities; availability of, or cost of, capital; employee workforce factors; delays and other obstacles associated with mergers, acquisitions, and investments in joint ventures; and costs and effects of legal and administrative proceedings, settlements, investigations, and claims. Please refer to the company's SEC filings for additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the information contained herein.

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