AEP says settles long-running U.S. acid rain suit - Reuters

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

AEP says settles long-running U.S. acid rain suit
Mon Oct 8, 2007 11:37pm EDT

By Bernie Woodall

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. power generator
American Electric Power has settled an eight-year
legal battle over acid rain with the U.S.
government and other plaintiffs, but the agreement
will not change the company's 2007 earnings, a
spokesman said on Monday.

It agreed to pay $15 million in civil penalties and
$60 million in pollution cleanup costs to end the
long-running dispute about whether AEP illegally
modified power plants and spewed acid rain
producing chemicals across the northeastern
United States.

AEP's biggest expense as a result of the suit will
not start until 2017, spokesman Pat Hemlepp told
Reuters by telephone. The company will spend
$1.6 billion, in current dollars, primarily to upgrade
a major coal-fired power plant in southern Indiana.

-snip-

The Associated Press had quoted two people as
saying AEP would pay $4.6 billion to cut pollution,
but Hemlepp said the figure was not accurate.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN0836126020071009

[hatrack]

1. Thank God! AEP will have 10 years before they actually have to spend money on this!

I was worried that actually doing something about this might hurt AEP, but I see now that they have a decade before actually incurring any expenses to actually cut acid rain.

Whew!