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May 20, 2008 | Associated Electric Cooperative dedicates Dell Power PlantContact : Nancy Southworth 417.885.9246 Photos available electronically. Contact lputman@aeci.org. Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI), the wholesale power supplier for six regional and 51 local electric cooperatives, is celebrating the completion of the Dell Power Plant in Dell, Ark., with an event May 22 for its member systems and community leaders. AECI purchased the partially completed 580-megawatt, natural-gas plant from TECO Energy in August 2005 after construction was suspended. Since the Dell plant was positioned near AECI’s transmission lines, it was a good resource to help meet members’ energy needs, which are growing at about 100 megawatts per year. The plant also has brought economic benefits to the town of Dell and surrounding regions, including 350 construction jobs and 20 full-time jobs now that the plant is finished and operating. AECI also will make payments totaling $19.35 million to Gosnell School District, Mississippi County, the town of Dell and Arkansas Northeastern College under a 30-year economic development agreement. At the completion of the agreement, the plant will become fully taxable. Prior to development of the plant, the county collected about $25,000 per year in taxes for the plant property. The Dell Power Plant is a low-emissions, efficient combined-cycle gas plant. Compared to a simple-cycle unit, combined-cycle units reduce emissions by using heat from the exhaust of the gas turbines to produce steam for additional energy generation. This process allows the plant to conserve more natural gas, the cleanest of all fossil fuels. In addition to adding natural-gas-based generation, AECI has undertaken a number of initiatives to help meet member systems’ growing energy needs, including providing a new energy efficiency program that builds on cooperatives’ longtime energy efficiency efforts. AECI also was a partner in bringing the first utility-scale wind farms to Missouri to provide renewable wind power for member systems. Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. is owned by and provides wholesale power to six regional and 51 local electric cooperative systems in Missouri, southeast Iowa and northeast Oklahoma that serve more than 850,000 customers. AECI’s mission is to provide an economical and reliable power supply and support services to its members, including the new “Take Control & Save” energy efficiency program, www.TakeControlAndSave.coop. AECI is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative. An Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V Released: 20 May 2008 |
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