North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 Announces Long-Term Purchase Power Agreement
12/5/2008 3:02:00 PM
North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1) has entered into a 20-year power purchase agreement with Southern Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company. To meet the agreement, Southern Power will build an electric generating plant in southern Cleveland County, NC.
The generating plant, to be owned and operated by Southern Power, will consist of four Siemens F Class gas turbine units and will be able to generate approximately 720 megawatts at the summer peak. The power purchase agreement will provide NCMPA1 the output of one of the four units. Initial construction is expected to begin in 2010, with commercial operation of all four units expected in early 2012.
“This project demonstrates the NCMPA1 Participants’ commitment to reliable long-term power supply,” said Clay Norris, Senior Vice President - Planning and Marketing.
Southern Company has supplied various power supply services to NCMPA1 for several years, including recent contracts for peaking power from the Rowan County Plant located in Rowan County, NC.
“This new contract continues a solid working relationship NCMPA1 and Southern Company have enjoyed for several years,” said Art Hubert, Interim CEO of ElectriCities, the management services organization for NCMPA1. “We are pleased to continue our partnership with them to ensure reliable power supply to the NCMPA1 participants, which are among the highest growth areas in North Carolina.”
Southern Power is the largest wholesale energy provider in the Southeast, meeting the electricity needs of municipalities, electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities in one of the fastest growing regions of the country. Southern Power currently owns and operates more than 7,700 megawatts of generation assets in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and North Carolina. Visit them at www.southerncompany.com
ElectriCities of North Carolina, Inc. (ElectriCities), North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1), North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NCEMPA) - More than 70 North Carolina public power communities, municipally owned and operated electric systems, serve more than 500,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in North Carolina. ElectriCities' members in NC, SC and VA serve more than one million customers. Most have been providing reliable electric service for 100 years or more. ElectriCities is the service organization that provides customer service and safety training, emergency and technical assistance, communications, government affairs and legal services to public power communities. ElectriCities provides management services to the state’s two municipal power agencies: NCMPA1 and NCEMPA. NCMPA1 has 19 member cities in the western part of North Carolina and NCEMPA has 32 member cities in eastern North Carolina. More information about ElectriCities is available atwww.electricities.com. More information about the Power Agencies and NC Public Power is available atwww.ncpublicpower.com.
