AKRON, Ohio, May 24, 2006 /PRNewswire-FirstCall

 

As part of a multi-year research program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory, FirstEnergy Corp's (NYSE: FE) R.E. Burger Plant, located in Shadyside, Ohio, has been selected as a carbon sequestration test site. The project eventually will involve injecting carbon dioxide (CO2) thousands of feet into the earth in suitable rock formations such as saltwater reservoirs for controlled, permanent storage - or "sequestration."

This is one of about 25 Phase II projects that are being planned across the country by DOE to test the commercial viability of carbon sequestration as a CO2 storage method. In Ohio, DOE is working with the Midwest Regional Carbon Sequestration Partnership (MRCSP), a 30-member team led by Battelle, a global leader in science and technology.

CO2 is a common gas released during a coal-based plant's combustion process. There is growing interest in understanding the role human activity may play -- through the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases -- in climate change, or what some call "global warming."

"For more than 20 years, FirstEnergy has been a national leader in efforts to develop new technologies to reduce emissions from coal-based power plants, and our involvement with MRCSP is another way we can take steps to protect the environment, while continuing to meet Ohio's need for reliable, affordable electricity," said Dan Steen, vice president, Environmental. Some of the research projects FirstEnergy has been involved with have led to the development of widely-used technologies that remove sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and mercury from power plants.

In recent years, MRCSP has collected data about Ohio's geology and these studies indicate that the rock foundations around the Burger Plant include porous sandstone layers thousands of feet below the surface with very dense cap rock lying above -- conditions potentially well-suited for safely storing CO2 as the technology is developed.

Over the next four to six months, MRCSP will conduct additional studies at the Burger Plant to confirm its suitability for sequestration. Beginning in June, survey crews and "seismic" trucks will take measurements around the plant to develop below-surface images to determine the potential for carbon sequestration in the area. If the test results are favorable, MRCSP would begin the permitting process needed to drill a test well on Burger Plant property. The test well will reach a depth of between 4,000 to 7,000 feet -- considerably below drinking water supplies which typically are found at about 100 feet in this region.

The Burger Plant demonstration is not a commercial-sized project but a very small-scale test. Once the drilling is complete and all regulatory requirements met, a small amount of CO2 would be injected into the well. At some point, the research team may use CO2 produced as part of an innovative CO2 capture process being developed by New Hampshire-based Powerspan Corp. for use with its Electro-Catalytic Oxidation (ECO) multi-pollutant control technology that is being demonstrated at the Burger Plant.

As part of the MRCSP project, extensive monitoring will be conducted both during and after the injection phase. Once the CO2 injection is finished, the monitoring will continue until the demonstration is complete. At the end of the project, the MRCSP research team will review and evaluate the results of the demonstration, and the well will be plugged or capped in accordance with appropriate environmental rules.

Total MRCSP funding for its Phase II projects amounts to $18.1 million, of which $14.3 million is provided by DOE, and $3.8 million by non-federal partners, including $750,000 from the Ohio Coal Development Office within the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority.

For additional information about carbon sequestration, visit the MRCSP Web site at www.mrcsp.org.

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, as well as energy management and other energy-related services.

Forward-Looking Statement: This news release includes forward-looking statements based on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. These statements typically contain, but are not limited to, the terms "anticipate," "potential," "expect," "believe," "estimate" and similar words. Actual results may differ materially due to the speed and nature of increased competition and deregulation in the electric utility industry, economic or weather conditions affecting future sales and margins, changes in markets for energy services, changing energy and commodity market prices, replacement power costs being higher than anticipated or inadequately hedged, the continued ability of our regulated utilities to collect transition and other charges or to recover increased transmission costs, maintenance costs being higher than anticipated, legislative and regulatory changes (including revised environmental requirements), and the legal and regulatory changes resulting from the implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (including, but not limited to, the repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935), the uncertainty of the timing and amounts of the capital expenditures (including that such amounts could be higher than anticipated) or levels of emission reductions related to the Consent Decree resolving the New Source Review litigation, adverse regulatory or legal decisions and outcomes (including, but not limited to, the revocation of necessary licenses or operating permits, fines or other enforcement actions and remedies) of governmental investigations and oversight, including by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Attorney's Office, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the various state public utility commissions as disclosed in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, generally, and with respect to the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station outage and heightened scrutiny at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in particular, the timing and outcome of various proceedings before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, including the transition rate plan filings for Met-Ed and Penelec, the continuing availability and operation of generating units, the ability of our generating units to continue to operate at, or near full capacity, our inability to accomplish or realize anticipated benefits from strategic goals (including employee workforce initiatives), the anticipated benefits from our voluntary pension plan contributions, our ability to improve electric commodity margins and to experience growth in the distribution business, our ability to access the public securities and other capital markets and the cost of such capital, the outcome, cost and other effects of present and potential legal and administrative proceedings and claims related to the August 14, 2003 regional power outage, circumstances which may lead management to seek, or the Board of Directors to grant, in each case in its sole discretion, authority for the implementation of a share repurchase program in the future, the risks and other factors discussed from time to time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and other similar factors. We expressly disclaim any current intention to update any forward-looking statements contained herein as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.

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