Contact: Edward Conaway
361-972-7643
ecconaway@stpegs.com

Wadsworth, Texas -- Nov. 8, 2001 -- The Unit 1 reactor at the South Texas Project Electric Generating Station has been refueled and is back online. STP Unit 1 returned to service Oct. 24, two days ahead of schedule, following a 21-day 15-hour 33-minute shutdown. The outage was well ahead of the current U.S. median reactor refueling time of 35 days, as tracked by the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Company officials credit excellent planning, scheduling, equipment condition, and teamwork for the efficient outage. The 21.6-day achievement was the second shortest in the Unit's 13-year history. In October 1997, the unit was refueled in 21 days, 14 hours and 32 minutes.

STP employees and contractors completed nearly 1,900 maintenance, testing and inspection tasks during the latest outage. Unit 1 returned to 100-percent power operation on Oct. 27.

"We could not perform a 21-day outage without quality people who are dedicated and committed to working together as a team," said Gary Parkey, vice president of Generation. "This outage is a testament to all the men and women at STP who worked so hard to make it happen," Parkey said.

STP is owned by Reliant Energy HL&P, American Electric Power's subsidiary Central Power and Light, City Public Service of San Antonio, and Austin Energy. The plant is operated by STP Nuclear Operating Company and produces 2,500 megawatts of electricity, enough to serve more than one million homes.

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