March 03, 2009 02:04 PM Eastern Time 

Allegheny Energy Completes Albright Power Station Environmental Project

GREENSBURG, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Allegheny Energy, Inc. (NYSE: AYE) today announced that it has completed the installation of a $37 million cooling tower and wastewater treatment system at its Albright Power Station, near Morgantown, W.Va.

The completion of this project will preserve and protect local water resources, particularly the Cheat River. Installation of the cooling tower will result in 93 percent less water being withdrawn from the Cheat River and the discharged water’s temperature will be significantly reduced. The upgraded wastewater treatment system will ensure compliance with the latest water quality standards.

The project is part of Allegheny’s ongoing environmental stewardship initiative. In 2008, the company completed a construction project to reduce emissions at its Pleasants Power Station located in Willow Island, W.Va. Additionally, Allegheny is installing scrubbers at its Fort Martin Power Station near Morgantown, W.Va., and its Hatfield’s Ferry Power Station near Pittsburgh, Pa. With the completion of these projects in 2009, Allegheny will have invested more than $1.3 billion to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions by 70 percent from 2005 levels, transforming the company’s power plant fleet into one of the cleanest in the United States with respect to sulfur dioxide.

Allegheny Energy

Headquartered in Greensburg, Pa., Allegheny Energy is an investor-owned electric utility with total annual revenues of over $3 billion and more than 4,000 employees. The company owns and operates generating facilities and delivers low-cost, reliable electric service to 1.6 million customers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia. For more information, visit our Web site at www.alleghenyenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this release contains a number of "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as anticipate, expect, project, intend, plan, believe, and words and terms of similar substance used in connection with any discussion of future plans, actions, or events identify forward-looking statements. These include statements with respect to: rate regulation and the status of retail generation service supply competition in states served by Allegheny Energy’s distribution business, Allegheny Power; financing plans; demand for energy and the cost and availability of raw materials, including coal; provider-of-last-resort and power supply contracts; results of litigation; results of operations; internal controls and procedures; capital expenditures; status and condition of plants and equipment; capacity purchase commitments; regulatory matters; and accounting issues. Forward-looking statements involve estimates, expectations and projections and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that actual results will not materially differ from expectations. Actual results have varied materially and unpredictably from past expectations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, the following: plant performance and unplanned outages; changes in the price of power and fuel for electric generation; general economic and business conditions; changes in access to capital markets; complications or other factors that render it difficult or impossible to obtain necessary lender consents or regulatory authorizations on a timely basis; environmental regulations; the results of regulatory proceedings, including proceedings related to rates; changes in industry capacity, development and other activities by Allegheny Energy’s competitors; changes in the weather and other natural phenomena; changes in customer switching behavior and their resulting effects on existing and future load requirements; changes in the underlying inputs and assumptions, including market conditions used to estimate the fair values of commodity contracts; changes in laws and regulations applicable to Allegheny Energy, its markets or its activities; the loss of any significant customers or suppliers; dependence on other electric transmission and gas transportation systems and their constraints or availability; changes in PJM, including changes to participant rules and tariffs; the effect of accounting policies issued periodically by accounting standard-setting bodies; and the continuing effects of global instability, terrorism and war. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Allegheny Energy’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.