INDIANA, Pa., July 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The owners of the 1,700-megawatt,
Keystone Generating Station have approved the investment of approximately
$600 million for the installation of state-of-the-art flue gas
desulfurization systems, or scrubbers, at the facility.
    The primary benefit of the scrubbers is removal of approximately 98
percent of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from plant emissions. This equipment will
provide the secondary benefits of removing substantial amounts of mercury
and particulate matter. Construction is scheduled to begin in the fall of
2006 and the scrubbers are scheduled to be in operation in 2009, with Unit
1 coming online in the spring and Unit 2 following later in the year.
    "This significant investment is important from both an environmental
and community perspective," said Jim Lafontaine, Keystone plant manager.
"We are investing in cleaner air and the long-term economic viability of
Keystone, while creating 800 temporary construction jobs and 20 permanent
full-time jobs. The project will contribute an estimated $100 million to
the local economy."
    In simple terms, a scrubber works by spraying a mixture of limestone
and water into gases created during the coal combustion process. As the SO2
in the gases comes in contact with the mixture, it is absorbed and
neutralized by the limestone. A byproduct of this process is commercial
grade gypsum, the primary component of wallboard. The Keystone plant
intends to sell the gypsum produced to wallboard manufacturers which turns
a waste stream into a resource.
    "Not only is a scrubber the right thing to do environmentally, it also
makes good business sense," said Joe Walkovich, Manager - Operations
Oversight, Keystone - Conemaugh Project Office. "Scrubbers will give us
more flexibility in the type of fuels that we will be able to use from the
local coal market."
    The Keystone Generating Station, located about 15 miles from Indiana in
Shelocta, Pa., is comprised of two 850-megawatt, coal-fired generating
units. Reliant Energy is the operator of the facility which is jointly
owned by a group of seven co-owners, including Atlantic City Electric (2.47
percent); Constellation Power Source Generation, Inc. (20.99 percent); NRG
Energy (3.7 percent); Reliant Energy (16.67 percent); PPL Generation (12.34
percent); Exelon Generating Company, LLC (20.99 percent); and PSEG Fossil
LLC (22.84).
    The scrubbers are the second major environmental control investment
that has been made at the station in the last three years. In 2003,
nitrogen oxide control technology was added to both units. The new
environmental control line-up will also significantly reduce mercury
emissions.
    This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are statements that
contain projections, estimates and assumptions about our revenues, income,
earnings and other financial items, our plans and objectives for the
future, future economic performance, or other projections or estimates
about our assumptions relating to these types of statements. These
statements usually relate to future events and anticipated revenues,
earnings, business strategies, competitive position or other aspects of our
operations or operating results. In many cases you can identify
forward-looking statements by terminology such as "anticipate," "estimate,"
"believe," "continue," "could," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential,"
"predict," "should," "will," "expect," "objective," "projection,"
"forecast," "goal," "guidance," "outlook", "effort", "target" and other
similar words. However, the absence of these words does not mean that the
statements are not forward-looking. We have based our forward- looking
statements on management's beliefs and assumptions based on information
available to management at the time the statements are made. Actual results
may differ materially from those expressed or implied by forward-looking
statements as a result of many factors or events, including legislative and
regulatory developments, the outcome of pending lawsuits, governmental
proceedings and investigations, the effects of competition, financial
market conditions, access to capital, the timing and extent of changes in
commodity prices and interest rates, weather conditions, changes in our
business plan and other factors we discuss in our other filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including "risk factors" discussed in
Reliant Energy's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Item 1A. Each
forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular
statement, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.

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