LIPA and Con Edison Form Collaborative for Major Offshore Wind Initiative

NEW YORK, NY, Apr 20 (MARKET WIRE) --
Long Island Power Authority President and CEO Kevin S. Law and
Consolidated Edison (Con Edison) Chairman and CEO Kevin Burke have
announced the creation of a "Wind Collaborative" to advance the
LIPA-ConEdison Offshore Wind Farm project.

The Collaborative will be comprised of state and municipal entities
interested in supporting or purchasing power from the proposed offshore
wind project the two utilities are exploring. The project would be sited
approximately 13 miles off the Rockaway Peninsula in the Atlantic Ocean
and would likely be designed for 350 MW of generation, with the ability to
expand it to 700 MW, giving it the potential to be the largest offshore
wind proposal in the country.

The Collaborative is part of the second phase of a joint feasibility study
between the two utilities. The first phase concluded that an
interconnection of up to 700 MW of wind power, located at the desired
location in the Atlantic Ocean, would be feasible with upgrades to their
respective transmission systems.

The intent of the collaborative working group will be to gather
information and work towards the issuance later this year of a Request
for Expressions of Interest (REFI) which will serve as a precursor to a
Request for Proposals (RFP) under which LIPA, Con Edison and possibly
other members of the Collaborative would seek proposals from private
development firms to build the project and enter into agreements to
purchase the energy produced by the project with various purchasers.

"I look forward to working with Con Edison, New York City and other state
agencies and federal agencies as we move ahead with our study for this
major wind project," said LIPA President and CEO Kevin S. Law. "The time
is now to combine conservation with clean power and establish our state
and nation as alternative energy leaders on a global level. If determined
that this project makes economic sense for our customers, we have the
opportunity to create not only green power but green jobs as well."

"Our joint collaboration with LIPA, along with the community leaders and
public officials across the state, could become an exciting and
environmentally responsible project for all New Yorkers," said Con Edison
Chairman and CEO Kevin Burke. "We must explore every avenue to harness
renewable power in our region, and we look forward to studying the
potential for wind generation for our customers."

Initial Wind Collaborative organizations include the New York State Energy
Research and Development Authority, the New York Power Authority, the New
York City Economic Development Corporation, the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority, and the Port Authority of New York and New
Jersey.

Law and Burke also released recent correspondence (see attached) with U.S
Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, commending him on his conviction
to move aggressively to develop plans to encourage offshore wind energy
in the United States and to update him on the status of the LIPA-Con
Edison plan. Law recently briefed Salazar about the wind project earlier
this month in Atlantic City while representing Governor David A. Paterson
at the Secretary of the Interior's regional hearing on the future of
offshore energy development on the nation's Outer Continental Shelf.

The second phase of the wind study will also include the creation of a
joint LIPA/Con Edison Web site to keep the wind industry, communities and
stakeholders informed of the project's progress and a continuing study of
the economics and feasibility of the project, including: determining if
there is sufficient wind resources to meet the scope of the project; an
avian (bird impacts) study, further environmental impacts, economic costs,
community impact and the potential number of jobs the project could
create.

The concept for the offshore wind project emanated from Governor
Paterson's Renewable Energy Task Force and is consistent with the
Governor's "45 by 15" program, which establishes the goal for New York
State to meet 45 percent of its electricity needs through improved energy
efficiency and renewable sources by the year 2015.

A copy of the joint feasibility study may be obtained by following either
of the following links:

http://www.lipower.org/newscenter/pr/2009/032009-windstudy.pdf

http://www.coned.com/messages/WindProjectStudy.pdfImage Available:
http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=964033

For LIPA contact:
Ed Dumas
VP of Communications
516.719.9838 (Office)
631.872.2790 (cell)

For Con Edison:
Michael Clendenin
Director of Communications
212-460-4111 (Office)
917-763-9505 (cell)

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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