Savannah Electric made a filing before the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) today to certify a contract for new generating capacity in 2005. The additional power is needed to meet the growing electrical needs of its customers.

Savannah Electric will purchase 200 megawatts (mw) out of a total of 1240 mw from a new combined cycle unit planned for the company’s Plant McIntosh site in Effingham County. Georgia Power will contract for the remaining capacity to serve its retail customers.

Both companies are seeking regulatory approval to enter into the long-term power agreements as part of their ongoing planning processes to meet the future electricity needs of retail customers in Georgia. Following the GPSC-required competitive bidding process, the companies identified the bids that serve our customers needs. The contract filed today for certification was the winning competitive bid.

“During our long term planning process we identified a need for generation beginning in the year 2005 due to continued growth in the demand for electricity,” said Anthony R. James, Savannah Electric’s president and chief executive officer. “We have reviewed the numerous bids we received and believe that this project meets the long-term economic and reliability needs of our customers.”

The Plant McIntosh project will consist of two 620-megawatt combined cycle generating units that are scheduled to be in service by the contract date of June 1, 2005.

These natural gas units are designed to achieve superior fuel efficiency and excellent environmental performance. Combined cycle units burn natural gas to generate electricity with combustion turbines. The waste heat is then captured in order to make steam which generates additional electricity.

This filing is unrelated to the company’s recent base rate case which dealt primarily with new generation resources coming in service this month. Savannah Electric is also seeking approval to retire 100 mw of older, gas-fueled generation from Savannah Electric’s Plant Riverside in downtown Savannah.

The proposed retirement is the result of a unit retirement analysis that Savannah Electric is required to conduct as part of the Integrated Resource Plan, or IRP, process. That analysis determined that the five small units at this plant are more expensive to continue to operate when compared to the cost of replacement power. Existing substations at Plant Riverside will remain in use. In-depth studies, which could take several years to complete, will be required before the company makes a decision on future uses for the property.

Savannah Electric, a subsidiary of Southern Company, serves over 132,000 customers in a five-county area of Southeast Georgia.

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