Alamitos Pays a Price to Go Back On-line Despite California's Desperate Power Needs

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Alamitos Pays a Price to Go Back On-line Despite California's Desperate Power Needs

LCG, Dec. 14, 2000--All summer long and into the fall, AES Corp. operated the Alamitos power plant it had purchased from California Edison Co. at as close to full capacity as possible. The money was good and California needed the power to avoid blackouts.

But, just when the state needed the plant's 2,000 megawatts the most, AES was forced to shut down the Long Beach facility because it had used up its emissions allocations for the year. The South Coast Air Quality Management District, a state agency seemingly unaware of the power shortage, even threatened to sue AES.

Last Friday, a deal was worked out with the district that permitted Alamitos to rejoin the grid, where it helped avert rolling blackouts after the California Independent System Operator had called its first-ever Stage 3 power emergency. There was a price to be paid.

AES Alamitos agreed, among other things, to:

Begin installing selective catalytic reduction devices on four uncontrolled units at AES Alamitos as soon as the pending permits are issued.

Until the devices are installed, dispatch all generating units in accordance with "environmental dispatch", which means that the units with superior emission control equipment are operated first.

Comply with all provisions of the District's emission trading program.

Pay a $17 million fine.

In a statement, Mark Woodruff, President of AES Southland, said perfunctorily, "This settlement allows us to remove the uncertainty relating to the alleged exceedances. More importantly, it also clears the way for AES to use its plants to serve the electricity needs of the State in the months and years ahead. We are moving forward as quickly as we can to install the SCRs and we appreciate the cooperation we have received from the leaders of the District."

http://www.energyonline.com/Restructuring/news_reports/news/1214pn.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), December 14, 2000


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