Dismissal of Nine Mile Point 2 sell to AmerGen sought

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

NYSEG Asks Public Service Commission to Dismiss the Company's 
Petition For Authority to Sell Nine Mile Point 2 to AmerGen  

BINGHAMTON, N.Y., April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- NYSEG yesterday filed a 
motion asking the Public Service Commission (PSC) to dismiss the 
company's July 1999 petition to sell its interest in the Nine Mile 
Point 2 (NMP2) nuclear generating unit to AmerGen.  The motion also 
asks the Commission to reaffirm its mandate to direct an auction of 
the plant, along with pre-approved protocols and pre-approved 
regulatory treatment. 

NYSEG fully supports the PSC's stated goal of mandating the 
divestiture of electric generating stations through a competitive 
process to promote competition in New York State.  Pursuant to the 
Commission's order in NYSEG's restructuring case, NYSEG auctioned its 
fossil generating units last year.  In that same order, NYSEG was 
directed to promote the sale of the Nine Mile plant by auction.  The 
motion filed yesterday with the PSC further encourages such a sale. 

NYSEG noted that the market for nuclear generation has changed 
dramatically since the agreement to sell Nine Mile Point 1 and the 
majority interest in Nine Mile Point 2 was announced last June.  
"Under the conditions that prevailed in 1998 and early 1999, an 
auction was not feasible.  So we worked to comply with the mandate of 
our restructuring agreement to divest our interest in NMP2 by 
promoting a negotiated sale by all of the cotenants," said Michael I. 
German, NYSEG's president and chief operating officer. 

"Since then, the market interest in nuclear plant ownership has 
improved, and it now appears that a fully open, competitive bidding 
process that is conducted with pre-approved protocols and pre-
approved regulatory treatment is the only way to satisfy the mandate 
of the Public Service Commission," the petition states.  As evidence 
of the changed market, the petition cites the recent sale of the New 
York Power Authority's nuclear assets to Entergy, Dominion Resources' 
keen interest in the NYPA assets, Consolidated Edison's intention to 
auction its Indian Point 2 plant and Constellation Energy's interest 
in the Nine Mile Point units. 

"We are eager to work towards the sale of the Nine Mile Point units 
for the benefit of all parties.  The sale is clearly in the best 
interest of our customers and the State of New York.  It will enable 
us to further sharpen the focus on safe and reliable energy," German 
said.  "The present uncertainty about the future of the Nine Mile 
Point units works to the detriment of all concerned.  A competitive 
process with PSC pre-approved protocols and pre-approved regulatory 
treatment is essential in order to assure bidders and sellers that a 
successful bid will lead to an approved transaction.  We believe such 
a process is necessary to maximize the sale proceeds and will most 
expeditiously achieve the Commission's stated goals." 

The agreement announced last June called for AmerGen to purchase 
Niagara Mohawk's Nine Mile Point 1 plant and its 41% interest in 
NMP2, as well as NYSEG's 18% interest in NMP2.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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