Washington (Platts)--24Jul2008

Dominion on Thursday said it plans to continue to operate a 745-MW coal-
and oil-fired power plant it owns near Salem, Massachsuetts, adding that it
believes it can economically meet new state and regional emissions
restrictions scheduled to take effect in the next several years.

The Richmond, Virginia-based company acquired the Salem Harbor power
plant in 2005. Shortly after it completed the purchase, the company signed a
consent order with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
and other parties that set strict environmental limits for the plant's
emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and mercury.

At that time, Dominion said it would announce in the summer of 2008 its
future plans for the station.

"Salem Harbor has demonstrated that it is a viable, reliable and an
environmentally sound resource for meeting the growing electricity demands of
the Boston area," Dominion Generation President and CEO Mark McGettrick said
in a statement. "We are confident that we can economically meet the
requirements of tough, new Massachusetts and regional environmental laws that
will take affect in the next few years."

McGettrick added that since the state imposed new air rules, the plant
has cut it SO2 emissions by 79%, NOx emissions by 77% and mercury emissions by
85%. The company said that it reduced emissions by, among other things,
switching to lower sulfur coal and fuel oil.

The company said it plans to test other measures that will allow the
units to cut mercury emissions 95% starting in October 2012.

Dominion added that it will participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative auctions that start in September as part of its plan to comply with
RGGI regulations that begin January 1, 2009.