To: Editors, News Directors

Date: August 15, 2003

For: Immediate Release

Wellton Mohawk Generating Facility Approved
Will Bolster Yuma Power Supply to Avoid Outages

PHOENIX - On Wednesday, Arizona regulators took another step to bolster the state's power system by approving the Wellton Mohawk Generating Facility. The project will fill an important need in the power grid once it begins producing power - expected to be in 2006 or 2007.

The power plant is strategically situated east of Yuma, Arizona, near the town of Wellton. The Yuma area is one of three zones identified as "transmission constrained" in a 2001 study of Arizona's power and transmission infrastructure. The area inside a transmission constraint is often referred to as a "load pocket."

The Wellton Mohawk plant earned approval of the Commission for a variety of other reasons. Most importantly, the approval included 29 separate conditions designed to protect the environment, ecology and water supply of the state.

"What excites me about the project is that it includes a 60-acre solar field that will produce supplemental power for the plant," Commissioner Bill Mundell said. "The solar panels will power the inlet cooling system. This drops the air temperature going into the turbines. When the air is cooled, the turbines run more efficiently and that produces more power with less fuel and lower emissions."

The plant will be developed by Dome Valley Energy Partners LLC, joint venture of Primesouth of South Carolina and Jasper Energy of New York. Two other partners are also involved, The Yuma County Water Users Association and the Wellton Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District.

The first phase of the natural gas-fired project involves construction of a 260 megawatts (MW) unit capable of producing up to 310 MW at peak performance. The second phase, to be constructed later, will add another unit with the same output.

"No groundwater will be pumped to run the plant," Commissioner Jeff Hatch-Miller added. "The Wellton Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District will supply all the water necessary to run the plant from their supply of surface water."

Commissioner Jim Irvin asked about where the plant will acquire the natural gas it needs to generate power. "Company representatives have several alternatives, including drawing natural gas from a gas pipeline that passes through the northern Baja peninsula," Irvin said. "The developers are looking at alternatives that don't involve tapping into the El Paso line that supplies most of Arizona's gas."

Federal regulators recently moved to limit the amount of natural gas Arizona can draw from the El Paso line.

"Clearly, one of Arizona's most pressing needs is to diversify its fuel supply to ensure that we do not remain captive to one source," Chairman Marc Spitzer said. "We don't produce or store natural gas in Arizona so we have to look to ways to attract new gas suppliers or get serious about storage projects."

Commissioner Mike Gleason said that locating the plant within the Yuma load pocket garnered his support. "This new, efficient power plant may mean that we can shut down some of the older power plants, which are more expensive to run during non-peak times."

Supporters of the project testified that it will bring much needed economic development to Yuma County by creating jobs and adding to the tax base.