American National Power, Inc. Breaks New Ground On the Newest and Cleanest Power Plant in Massachusetts.

MARLBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 1999--

American National Power, Inc., (ANP), a national Power PLC company, officially broke ground today on its 589 megawatt gas-fired merchant power plant in the town of Blackstone, Massachusetts. The Blackstone plant will be among the world's cleanest power plants.

"This is the largest power plant investment in the state in twenty five years and meets state of the art environmental compliance in the United States," said Joseph Fitzpatrick, Senior Vice President of American National Power at groundbreaking ceremonies held at the site. "Fueled by clean-burning natural gas and using the most advanced combustion and pollution control technologies, it will emit 40 times less pollution than the average New England power plant, and almost three times less than the region's cleanest existing plant."

Massachusetts Energy Commissioner David L. O'Connor commented, "This plant proves that electric industry restructuring works for consumers. It will produce low cost power, improve air quality, and increase regional electricity supply. This development is good news for Massachusetts."

Speakers at the event included Robert Dubois, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen in Blackstone and State Representative Paul Kujawski (D-Blackstone). Blackstone is approximately 40 miles south of Boston in one of the fastest growing sections of New England.

The Blackstone Plant is one of the first merchant plants to be interconnected to the Boston Edison transmission system and with an estimated capital cost of up to $300 million is the largest power generation project approved in Massachusetts since the early 1970's. Robert Charlebois, ANP's Vice President responsible for the Blackstone Plant noted that, "Our efforts in Texas, New York and New England have been supported by consumer and environmental groups because these new gas plants produce low-cost power with very low emissions." The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) are among the environmental groups that have endorsed the plant.

"ANP has been a good partner for Blackstone and it listened to our community concerns in siting its plant here," said Rep. Paul Kujawski (D-Blackstone). "Not only will the plant offer a less expensive and cleaner energy source, but it will bring jobs locally."

A contract for the engineering, procurement and construction of the Blackstone Plant has been signed with ABB Power Generation, Inc. The plant is expected to reach commercial operation by the summer of 2001.

ANP has 9,000 megawatts of generating capacity under development, with plans to invest $1.6 billion in merchant plants during the 1998-2001 period. "We expect to commence at least one more major plant in the U.S. during National Power's current fiscal year," said James Moore, Chief Executive Officer of ANP. ANP has a number of other power plants in the permitting stage in New England, New York and Texas.

National Power develops, acquires, owns and operates power plants worldwide. It is the leading electric power generating company in the United Kingdom, where it owns 16,133 megawatts, and internationally where it has ownership interests in plants with a gross generating capacity of 12,000 megawatts. ANP develops, acquires, owns and operates interests in seven facilities representing approximately 3,085 megawatts of gross generating capacity. ANP is headquartered in Houston, Texas.