Zilkha Wind Farm finds Power Purchase Agreement from FirstEnergy

May 9, 2003

Somerset County, Pennsylvania - [SolarAccess.com] The clean, renewable energy soon to be generated from a Zilkha wind farm nearing construction has now been accounted for. FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., a subsidiary of Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp., entered into an agreement to purchase all of the electricity output from Meyersdale Windpower's 30 MW Meyersdale Windpower Project for a period of 20 years. FirstEnergy Solutions provides electricity to retail customers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New Jersey. Meyersdale Windpower is a partnership between Atlantic Renewable Energy Corporation of Richmond, Virginia and Zilkha Renewable Energy of Houston, Texas.

Located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, the Meyersdale Windpower Project will consist of 20 1.5 MW wind turbine generators. The project is currently in an advanced stage of development, with construction intended to start later this year, with an anticipated on-line date of the fall of 2003. The Meyersdale Project will provide enough wind-powered Renewable Energy to meet the needs of more than 10,000 Pennsylvania households. "FirstEnergy Solutions is demonstrating exceptional corporate leadership by being one of the first retail providers in Pennsylvania to commit to the long-term purchase of wind-powered Renewable Energy to meet its customer needs," said John Hanger, president of PennFuture. "By buying this clean wind power, FirstEnergy Solutions is leading Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic region into a brighter energy future."

"We are delighted to be working with FirstEnergy Solutions in providing the residents of Pennsylvania a clean energy solution for many years to come," Michael Zilkha, principal of Zilkha Renewable Energy. "We congratulate FirstEnergy Solutions on their environmental stewardship in the Mid-Atlantic region."

Located in Houston, Texas, Zilkha Renewable Energy is owned by the father-and-son team of Selim and Michael Zilkha, formerly of Zilkha Energy. In the last several years, Zilkha has built over 100 MW of wind farms in Pennsylvania and Iowa. As of early 2003 Zilkha has several hundred more megawatts under contract. Over the next five years, Zilkha hopes to develop 1500 MW of wind energy in the United States using its own financial resources and partnering with other energy companies.

"We would like to thank FirstEnergy Solutions for the confidence in our project team," said Theo de Wolff, principal of Atlantic Renewable Energy Corporation. "In addition, the incentive grant provided to this project by the PECO Sustainable Development Fund will be of real assistance in making the clean, renewable power generated by the project cost-effective for FirstEnergy's customers."

Atlantic Renewable is an independent, privately held developer of Renewable Energy projects active on the eastern seaboard. Since its inception in 1998 Atlantic Renewable has emerged as the leading developer of wind power projects in the eastern United States through the successful implementation of 131 MW of wind power capacity, which represents more than 70 percent of all installed wind power in that region.

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