HAYS, Kan., Aug. 11, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Midwest Energy, Inc. recently signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase 75 megawatts from the new Holcomb East unit that will be built at Sunflower Electric's Holcomb Station.
Earnie Lehman, Midwest's President and General Manager, said, "We are pleased to partner with Sunflower in this project for the benefits it will bring to our customer-owners and to western Kansas. Our commitment to Holcomb East reflects our confidence that it will be a long-term reliable source of competitively priced electricity."
Sunflower's President and CEO, Earl Watkins, commenting on the agreement said, "Sunflower and Midwest have done business together for many years." He added, "I am very happy that the Midwest Board and management chose to participate with Sunflower in the expansion of the Holcomb plant."
The LOI will result in a power purchase agreement providing Midwest Energy capacity in the new plant, scheduled for construction in 2007, for a period of 30 years. The Holcomb East unit is expected to be in commercial service in 2011.
The expansion at Holcomb will include the construction of three 700 megawatt coal-based powerplants. Beginning in mid-2007, the construction phase of the project is expected to last 66 months and cost $3.6 billion. Each plant will be equipped with the best available emission control technology and will be among the cleanest coal-based plants in the nation when completed.
The agreement will allow Midwest Energy to join with several other electric cooperatives in the Holcomb Expansion project. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association in Westminster, Colorado, and Golden Spread Electric Cooperative, Amarillo, Texas previously signed agreements with Sunflower for equity investments in the expansion project.
Watkins and Lehman both agree that this project reflects an historic collaboration among several electric cooperatives all working together in ways that will benefit the consumers that own each system.
Sunflower filed for an application for a construction air permit with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in February. A public hearing on the application is expected in October.
About Midwest Energy
Midwest Energy, Inc., headquartered in Hays, Kansas, is an electric and natural gas utility serving nearly 90,000 customers in 42 central and western Kansas counties. Midwest Energy maintains almost 11,000 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines. For further information, visit Midwest Energy's website at: http://www.mwenergy.com.
About Sunflower
Sunflower Electric Power Corporation is a regional wholesale power supplier that owns and operates a 595 MW system of gas and coal-fired generating plants and a 1,200-mile transmission system for the needs of its six member cooperatives who serve 118,000 people spread throughout a 21,000 square mile area in western Kansas. Sunflower also provides power to regional utilities in western Kansas and in ten states. For further information, visit Sunflower's website at http://www.sunflower.net.