Utilities Bring More Power to California

Edison Mission Energy, an Edison International company, and ChevronTexaco Worldwide Power & Gasification, a ChevronTexaco company, announced that the expansion of their Sunrise Power Project has been completed and the enlarged facility is now providing reasonably priced electricity to the people of California. The second phase, or expansion, of the project was completed more than a month ahead of schedule -- just in time for the long, hot summer.

"The recent Stage One power alert in California illustrates how critical such new sources of power continue to be to the state's consumers," said Thomas R. McDaniel, chairman, president and CEO of EME. "Edison is committed to helping fill that need."

The power generated by the Sunrise plant is purchased by the state at cost-based rates under a contract that extends through 2012. This provides reliable power to the state's consumers at stable, reasonable costs -- helping California avoid potential power alerts and blackouts.

Located in western Kern County, the Sunrise Power Project was built in two phases. Phase 1, completed in June 2001, consists of a 325-megawatt (MW), simple-cycle peaking facility. Phase 2 converts that peaking facility to a 570-MW, combined-cycle operation. Even though the facility was built in record time, it meets or exceeds all pertinent environmental and safety standards.

The project was planned and constructed in two phases in response to the state's energy crisis. "This plan not only increased the eventual total output of the facility to 570 MW," McDaniel added, "but the two-phase approach allowed for a critical summer 2001 start-up for Phase 1 -- helping mitigate the significant shortfalls in available power in California at the height of the crisis." The first phase was completed -- from groundbreaking to the production of the first commercial megawatt -- in an astonishingly short six months.

Edison International companies include Edison Mission Energy, Southern California Edison and Edison Capital.