Contact: Mary Beth Fisher

For Immediate Release

February 23, 2001

SUGAR CREEK ENERGY, LLC TO BUILD AND OPERATE MERCHANT PLANT

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission today approved a request from Sugar Creek Energy, LLC to build and operate a 533MW power generation facility.

In Cause No. 41753, the majority of the Commissioners are satisfied that there is not only a generic need for power in the region, but also a particular need for the power that will be generated by the facility.

The plant will be located on property adjoining the Wabash River in South Vigo County. The city of Terre Haute/Vigo County Department of Redevelopment re-zoned the site from an Agricultural District to a Heavy Industrial District following a public hearing in contemplation of the project.

The terms of operation approved by the Commission are the result of a settlement agreement between Sugar Creek Energy and the Office of the Utility Consumer counselor. The company is expected to begin construction within two years of this order, but if the combined cycle portion of the facility is not complete in four years, the order will terminate. Any revocations or declination of the combined cycle facilities will not apply to the completed peaking units. Sugar Creek Energy will not add additional units beyond the 533 megawatts without authorization from the Commission.

To allow the IURC to keep track of electric systems across the state, the order requires the company to keep the IURC informed of progress during construction.

Electricity generated at the facility will be sold solely on the wholesale market. Sugar Creek Energy, LLC does not intend and is not authorized by the IURC to sell any electricity generated from this facility to the public on a retail basis.

Sugar Creek Energy, LLC is a Limited Liability Company organized and existing under the laws of the State of Indiana. It is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Energy, Inc. one of the largest unregulated producers of electricity in the United States and a former subsidiary of Southern Company.

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