Elwood Energy LLC, located about 60 miles southwest of Chicago,has signed a multi-year power plant sales agreement with AquilaEnergy for the output of Elwood’s phase II expansion of itsgas-fired peaking facility. When the Elwood, IL facility becomesoperational next summer, it will double the capacity of itsexisting 600 MW merchant facility, bringing the total capacity to1,350 MW.

The 15-year agreement with the UtiliCorp United subsidiarycovers 600 MW of the entire 750 MW output of phase II. ElwoodEnergy is a joint venture of Peoples Energy corp. and Dominion.

“The agreements with Aquila provide a strong economic base forthe expansion of the Elwood Energy facility, which will furtherenhance the reliability of power supply in Illinois,” said ElwoodEnergy’s general manager Ronald D. Usher.

Ed Mills, COO of Aquila, said the agreement “augments Aquila’scapacity portfolio, complementing the company’s existing plants andfleet of power generation projects in development.”

The facility is adjacent to multiple interstate natural gaspipelines and is also close to a high capacity ComEd transmissioncorridor that provides access to the wholesale electric market.

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