Brayton Point Power Station In Full Compliance With Environmental Protection Requirements

July 28, 2005

Brayton Point Power Station is in full compliance with all federal and state air regulations, including some of the toughest emission standards in the country.

Since taking ownership of the 1599-megawatt power station on January 1, 2005, Dominion has committed to spending more than $230 million over the next two years on state-of-the-art environmental controls.

"Brayton Point is the largest coal- and oil-powered generating station in New England and we’re installing the best environmental control technology available — and we’re doing it while supplying vital electric power to Massachusetts and the New England region," said Gary Courts, managing director of Dominion’s New England assets.

"The electricity generated at Brayton Point is essential to the energy stability of our region. Just this week, New England set its all-time record for electricity needs. This is the second all-time peak usage day in just over one week. Keeping this energy reliability in mind, we’re proud of our ability to operate this station safely and efficiently, and of our commitment to operate in an environmentally responsible manner."

Brayton Point is currently supplying enough electric energy to power more than 1 million New England homes and businesses, and is one of the most efficient coal plants in the nation.

Massachusetts has the most stringent air quality regulations in the country for coal- and oil-fired generating units and those regulations will be getting even stricter over the next few years. Brayton Point has been able to comply with those laws by switching to cleaner burning fuels, Courts said.

By next fall, the station will have completed the construction of two selective catalytic reduction systems that will remove more than 90 percent of the nitrogen oxide emissions from two units. Nitrogen oxide is a component of smog.

In addition, the station also has plans to construct comprehensive emissions controls to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. Called scrubbers, the equipment will reduce more than 90 percent of the SO2 emissions from the units on which it is installed.

The emission control equipment being installed will work together to ultimately remove more than 95 percent of the mercury emissions from the units. The station currently is developing the timeline for construction of the remaining control equipment.

With respect to greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide emissions, Brayton Point already is in compliance with the Massachusetts regulation that will go into effect in 2006.

The company also plays an active role as a stakeholder in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and is working cooperatively to come up with feasible ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the Northeast Region.

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