Aquila Energy sold to San Jose-based Calpine Corp. a 50%interest in its 600 MW gas-fired, combined-cycle Aries power plantnow under construction in Pleasant Hill, MO. Under the agreementMerchant Energy Partners, an Aquila subsidiary, will manage thefuel supply for the plant as well as all the power produced by theplant. Calpine will oversee construction, operation andmaintenance.

Construction started on the $280 million Aries facility inOctober 1999. Commercial operations of the first 330 MW will beginin June 2001, with full production starting in January 2002. Themajority of the facility’s output will be sold to Missouri PublicService from June 2002 to May 31, 2005. Thereafter, power will besold into the attractive Southwest Power Pool (SPP), and into otherenergy markets. Black and Veatch of Kansas City, Mo. is buildingthe Aries facility on a 67-acre site located 18 miles southeast ofKansas City.

“This marks Calpine’s entry into the Southwest Power Pool, astrategically important market,” said Calpine vice president DanielAllard. “Aquila Energy and Calpine together bring expertise to makethis project particularly attractive to both companies — and thecommunities and markets we serve.”

V. J. Horgan, president of Merchant Energy Partners, noted thateconomic growth in the Midwest, including Missouri, has “resultedin a need for more power supplies, which this plant will helpsatisfy.”

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