We have been complying with the New Source Review consent decree that we entered in 2007, which was described in last year’s report. This requires environmental controls on nearly 75 percent of the installed capacity of our coal plants in our eastern region and the retirement, retrofitting or repowering of approximately 2,000 MW of smaller, older and less efficient plants. The decree includes a cap on NOx emissions starting in 2009 and on SO₂ emissions starting in 2010. This year, we are adding NOx controls at some units and are operating all existing NOx controls on a year-round basis.

In 2010, our SO₂ emissions cap takes effect and represents an approximate 386,000-ton reduction from 2006 levels for our Midwestern plants. Both NOx and SO₂ caps will decline under the consent decree until 2018 and 2019, respectively.

The approval of an air permit for the John W. Turk Jr. Power Plant from the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality was a significant achievement for AEP’s Southwestern Electric Power Company in 2008. This ultra-supercritical pulverized coal plant will be the first in the United States and will feature the most efficient existing technology for burning western coals. It also can be retrofit with carbon dioxide controls. The emission limits set by the state are among the most stringent ever for a pulverized coal plant.

Although some opponents of the plant filed an appeal, we have been allowed to continue construction while the appeal is resolved. The plant will take 48 months to build, will create 1,400 temporary jobs at the height of construction and will result in 110 permanent jobs. Turk is one of the few coal plants under construction in the United States.