To provide continuing fuel supply stability for Units 1 and 2 at the Colstrip power plant, co-owners PPL Montana and Puget Sound Energy have signed a long-term agreement with Western Energy Company, a subsidiary of Westmoreland Coal Company, for coal supply from the Rosebud Mine near Colstrip.

“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with WECO,” said Brad Spencer, vice president and chief operating officer for PPL Montana, the plant operator. “We are committed to keeping the Colstrip plant a vital part of our power supply portfolio and a vital part of the Montana economy. This will enable the plant to continue to produce the maximum amount of electricity at the lowest possible cost and in an environmentally sound manner over the long term.”

Under the contract, which will begin in 2010 when the current coal supply contract expires, WECO will supply 100 percent of the Units 1 and 2 coal requirements — about 3 million tons per year — subject to plant operator and owner options to introduce other coal sources later in the contract.

“Current mining projections indicate that this agreement will cover coal supply through at least 2019. Depending on future mining cost and quality, the total coal reserve at the Rosebud Mine could allow the agreement to extend as long as 2028,” Spencer said.

The current contract with WECO for coal supply for Units 1 and 2, which began in the mid-1970s with the initial operation of the units, will expire Dec. 31, 2009.

PPL has 500 employees in Montana who generate and sell electricity. PPL Montana operates coal-fired power plants at Colstrip and Billings, as well as 11 hydroelectric plants along West Rosebud Creek and the Missouri, Madison, Clark Fork and Flathead rivers. It has a combined generating capacity of more than 1,200 megawatts and has offices in Billings, Butte and Helena. PPL EnergyPlus operates a trading floor in Butte that markets and sells power in the wholesale and retail energy market. PPL Montana and PPL EnergyPlus are subsidiaries of PPL Corporation . More information about PPL Montana is available at www.pplmontana.com.

Source: PPL Montana

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