Published: June 09, 2010
Public Service of NH Reaches Power Purchase Agreement with Laidlaw Energy
NEW YORK - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. (ticker symbol "LLEG" ) announced today that
Public Service of New Hampshire has issued a news release concerning the
execution of a Power Purchase Agreement to purchase power from Laidlaw's
Berlin, NH Biomass-Energy Project. The full text of PSNH's release is as
follows and can also be found at http://psnhnews.com/latestnews.cfm?lnid=203.
Biomass Plant Supports New Hampshire's RPS Goal of 25 x 25
BERLIN, N.H., June 9, 2010 â Public Service of New Hampshire
has reached agreement with Laidlaw Berlin BioPower LLC, an affiliate of Laidlaw
Energy Group, Inc., to purchase the energy from a proposed
wood-fired power generation facility planned for New Hampshire's North
Country. When operational, the 70 megawatt gross capacity biomass
facility in Berlin will be the largest wood-burning power plant in the
state, and will move New Hampshire closer to its goal of 25 percent
renewable energy by the year 2025.
"We are committed to growing our portfolio of renewable energy, and the
Laidlaw biomass plant will take us a significant step forward toward
meeting the state's Renewable Portfolio Standards mandate," noted Gary
Long, PSNH's President and Chief Operating Officer. "Besides the energy,
this plant will generate jobs - both direct and indirect - and we expect
it to provide a real boost to the North Country's economy."
When operational, the plant will consume local, clean, wood chips which
are byproducts of the local forest products industry and land management
practices. "One of our key development strategies is to have Coös County
become the renewable energy capital of Northern New England," said Max
Makaitis, Economic Development Director, Androscoggin Valley Economic
Recovery Corporation (AVER). "We are particularly excited about biomass
projects like Laidlaw's, because they help create jobs, not only at the
plant itself, but also in the forest, and in those services that support
our foresters."
"We are proud to partner with PSNH, AVER and the Berlin community to
make the North Country a leader in clean, renewable energy," said
Michael Bartoszek, Laidlaw Berlin BioPower President and CEO. "This
agreement is an affirmation of the hard work of many to ensure that we
have a solid plan with which to move forward. We at Laidlaw are very
pleased to play a role in helping to support the future economic success
of Berlin and Coos County, and in particular the creation of jobs at a
time when they are truly needed."
As a generation source that utilizes biomass, the Laidlaw plant will
produce not only "energy," but also "renewable energy certificates"
(RECs), which all providers of electricity in New Hampshire must obtain
in order to comply with the state's renewable energy law. PSNH's
agreement with Laidlaw calls for the utility to purchase the energy, the
generating capacity, and the RECs produced by the biomass plant. PSNH
expects that the amount of RECs purchased annually from Laidlaw will
fulfill much of PSNH's "Class I" REC
requirements through 2015 and a majority of the company's
requirements over the next decade. The agreement between PSNH and
Laidlaw runs for 20 years.
The long-term power purchase agreement must be considered and approved
by the N.H. Public Utilities Commission in order to ensure that it is in
the public interest. At this time, the Laidlaw project has an
application pending before the NH Site Evaluation Committee (SEC), which
is charged with regulating the development of significant new energy
facilities.
With the addition of wood-fired energy produced by the 70 megawatt gross
capacity Laidlaw biomass plant, PSNH will have arguably the highest
percent of renewable energy of any electric utility in New England, with
approximately 26 percent of the energy it supplies to its customers
being renewable energy generated by PSNH itself or by independent New
Hampshire resources selling energy to PSNH.
According to state rules, however, not all of PSNH's renewable energy
sources are certified to produce RECs. Most of the energy produced by
PSNH's hydroelectric facilities, for example, does not qualify under the
NH Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS).
"The development of new renewable energy sources that meet the State RPS
requirements will take time and comes with a cost," noted Gary Long.
"But, we have confidence that we will get there by growing our own
portfolio and by continuing to partner with quality, economic projects
that best serve our customers' interests."
For further information on Laidlaw please see www.laidlawenergy.com.
This communication contains statements expressing expectations of future
events and/or results which may include, without limitation, statements
concerning anticipated financial performance, business prospects,
technological developments, potential markets, new products, research
and development activities and similar matters. Such statements
constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the Safe Harbor
provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All
statements based on future expectations rather than historical facts are
forward looking statements that involve a number of risks and
uncertainties, Laidlaw provides no assurance that such statements will
prove to be correct. Laidlaw undertakes no obligation to update or
revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.

Laidlaw
Michael B. Bartoszek, 212-480-9884
President & CEO
info@LaidlawEnergy.com
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