Houston Industries Power Generation Inc. (HIPG) and the WoodRiver Refining Co. (WRRC) agreed to develop a 634 MW gas-firedpower plant at Wood River’s refinery in Roxana, IL.

The project is said to be the first large-scale merchant powerplant to be announced in Illinois, although Peoples Energy andDominion Energy recently announced plans to develop a 300 MWgas-fired peaking facility near Elwood, IL, 60 miles southwest ofChicago (See NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index May 29, 1998).

The Houston Industries plant will provide steam to the refineryand will sell electricity through Houston Industries’ energymarketing and trading division, NorAm Energy Services. A portion ofthe electricity will be made available by NorAm for sale to WoodRiver. NorAm also will supply gas to the project.

Wood River Refining is a division of Equilon Enterprises, ajoint venture of Shell Oil Products and Texaco. Wood Riverprocesses about 275,000 barrels of crude oil/d.

©Copyright 1998 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press,Inc.