GE to Supply 80 Wind Turbines for Los Angeles; Utility's First Wind Energy Project

Business Wire, Feb 27, 2003

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2003

GE Wind Energy will supply 80 wind turbines for a new, 120-megawatt facility in California's Mojave Desert that will be the first wind project for Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), the nation's largest municipally owned utility.

When completed in the summer of 2004, the Pine Tree Wind Project will produce clean, renewable electricity for LADWP customers. The project is being developed by Wind Turbine Prometheus, LLC, a partnership between Zilkha Renewable Energy, LLC and Prometheus Energy Services, LLC. Wind Turbine Prometheus will utilize GE's well-proven 1.5-megawatt wind turbines. The machines will be installed on approximately 22,000 acres of land located 12 miles north of Mojave, California.

"We are pleased to have been chosen to supply our 1.5 megawatt technology for LADWP's flagship wind energy initiative," said Steve Zwolinski, president of GE Wind Energy. "This project reflects LADWP's foresight and leadership in bringing clean, renewable energy to its customers in Los Angeles where air quality improvement is highly valued."

Tom Gray, executive director of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), noted that "LADWP has been working with Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn and the City Council to determine the best renewable energy options for the city, and AWEA is pleased to see that wind was the first such option selected. In addition to its numerous environmental benefits, wind energy is good business as well; the Pine Tree Wind Project will save the city money and provide a reliable, affordable source of energy for decades to come."

According to the AWEA, California leads the United States in wind energy production, with a total wind generating capacity of 1,822 megawatts. The total installed capacity of wind energy in the U.S. at the end of 2002 was more than 4,600 megawatts, or enough to serve more than 1.2 million households.

Pine Tree Wind Project is the second major U.S. wind project to recently announce that it plans to utilize GE Wind Energy technology. On January 21, Cape Wind LLC of Boston announced it has selected GE wind turbines for the proposed Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts.

The GE 1.5-megawatt wind turbines to be used in the Pine Tree Wind Project are among the most widely sold wind turbines in the megawatt class. In mid-2002, GE announced that its 1,000th 1.5 megawatt wind turbine had been placed in operation. Today, the GE 1.5 megawatt machines are operating in Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Japan, Sweden and the U.S., with an installed capacity of 1,800 megawatts.

GE Wind Energy designs and manufactures wind turbines with rated outputs of between 900 and 3,600 kilowatts, and offers support services ranging from project development to operation and maintenance. Worldwide, the company has developed and/or sold over 5,500 wind turbines with a rated capacity exceeding 3,100 megawatts.

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power serves more than 3.8 million people in a 465-square-mile service area. For more than a century, LADWP has been providing reliable, high-quality, low-cost water and electricity to the residents and businesses of Los Angeles.

About GE Power Systems

GE Power Systems (www.gepower.com) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation technology, energy services and management systems with estimated 2002 revenues of nearly $23 million. Based in Atlanta, GA., GE Power Systems provides equipment, services and management solutions across the power generation, oil and gas, distributed power and energy rental industries.