Southern Company subsidiary drives economic growth with new North
Carolina gas facility
ATLANTA, Dec. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern Power,
the subsidiary of Southern Company that acquires, builds, manages
and owns generation assets that have been constructed for the
wholesale market, today began commercial operation of Plant
Cleveland, a 720-megawatt (MW) natural gas facility located in
Cleveland County, N.C.
The plant expands the company's natural gas portfolio and is the
third generating facility that Southern Power owns and operates in
North Carolina. In addition to
Plant Cleveland, Southern Power acquired Plant Rowan, a 925-MW gas
facility, in 2006 and in October announced with Turner Renewable
Energy, Inc., the acquisition of the 2.5-MW Granville Solar
Facility.
"We are excited about growing Southern Power's presence in
North Carolina to provide clean,
safe, reliable and affordable electricity to customers while
positively impacting the local economy," said Southern Power
President and CEO Oscar C. Harper.
"We are committed to being a strong business partner in the
communities where we're located and I'm pleased that we have strong
relationships with our neighbors in North
Carolina."
Plant Cleveland represents an
investment of about $330 million in
the community and is expected to contribute $30 million in new state and local tax revenue
over the next 20 years. Some 300 jobs were created at the height of
construction and eight permanent positions have been created to
operate the plant.
The generating plant consists of four Siemens F Class gas
turbine units that occupy a portion of a 275-acre site near
Kings Mountain, N.C. Plant
Cleveland will, in part, provide
electric power through long-term contracts with North Carolina
Electric Membership Corporation (NCEMC) and North Carolina
Municipal Power Agency Number 1 (NCMPA1).
NCEMC is a generation and transmission cooperative that supplies
all or part of the energy needs for the majority of the state's
electric cooperatives. Electric cooperatives provide energy to 2.5
million people in 93 of North
Carolina's 100 counties, primarily in rural parts of the
state.
NCMPA1 is a joint action agency composed of 19 municipalities in
western North Carolina, with a
total load of approximately 1,100 MWs. NCMPA1 has a 75 percent
ownership interest in the Catawba Nuclear Station Unit 2 and is
active in the wholesale power market. NCMPA1 is headquartered in
Raleigh, N.C.
Southern Power is among the largest wholesale energy providers
in the Southeast, meeting the electricity needs of municipalities,
electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities. The company
owns and operates more than 8,600 MWs with facilities in
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North
Carolina, Texas and
New Mexico and has an additional
30 MWs under construction in Nevada.
With 4.4 million customers and more than 43,000 megawatts of
generating capacity, Atlanta-based
Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is the premier energy company serving
the Southeast. A leading U.S. producer of clean, safe, reliable and
affordable electricity, Southern Company owns electric utilities in
four states and a growing competitive generation company, as well
as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company
brands are known for energy innovation, excellent customer service,
high reliability and retail electric prices that are below the
national average. Southern Company is leading the nation's nuclear
renaissance through the construction of the first new nuclear units
to be built in a generation of Americans and is demonstrating its
commitment to energy innovation through development of a
state-of-the-art coal gasification plant. Southern Company has been
recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer
and listed by DiversityInc as a top company for Blacks. The company
received the 2012 Edison Award from the Edison Electric Institute
for its leadership in new nuclear development, was named Platts'
2011 Power Company of the Year and is continually ranked among the
top utilities in Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric
and Gas Utility rankings. Visit our website at
www.southerncompany.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements:
Certain information contained in this release is
forward-looking information based on current expectations and plans
that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking information
includes, among other things, statements concerning the investment
of the project in the community. Southern Company cautions that
there are certain factors that can cause actual results to differ
materially from the forward-looking information that has been
provided. The reader is cautioned not to put undue reliance on this
forward-looking information, which is not a guarantee of future
performance and is subject to a number of uncertainties and other
factors, many of which are outside the control of Southern Company;
accordingly, there can be no assurance that such suggested results
will be realized. The following factors, in addition to those
discussed in Southern Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2011, and
subsequent securities filings, could cause actual results to differ
materially from management expectations as suggested by such
forward-looking information: the impact of recent and future
federal and state regulatory changes; the ability to control costs
and avoid cost overruns during the development and construction of
facilities; and the ability of counterparties of Southern Company
to make payments as and when due and to perform as required.
Southern Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any
forward-looking information.
SOURCE Southern Company