CAROLINA POWER <CPL> CANCELS GENERATING UNIT
Carolina Power and Light Co said
its board has decided to cancel coal-fired Mayo Unit Two, the
second unit planned for its Mayo Plant in Person County, N.C.
    The company said the 690,000 kilowatt unit was only about
one pct complete and was scheduled for commercial service in
1992.
    Carolina Power said the status of the unit had been under
review because of a decision by the North Carolina
Environmental Management Commission that would have required
the unit to be equipped with expensive sulphur dioxide-removing
scrubbers.
    Carolina Power said Unit One, which has been in operation
since 1983, meets all air quality regulations without scrubbers
through the use of low-sulphur coal, and "The addition of
scrubbers to Mayo Unit Two would have produced only marginal
air quality improvements."
    The company said it will be able to purchase lower-cost
power from Duke Power Co <DUK> for intermediate and peaking
purposes than the projected cost of power from Mayo Two with
scrubbers.  It said it will retain the Mayo Two site for later
development of a generating unit.
    Carolina Power said Mayo Two was projected to cost about
877 mln dlrs, including 200 mln dlrs for scrubbers.  "The
higher construction costs, plus higher operating costs, would
increase the cost of power produced by Mayo Unit Two with
scrubbers by about 90 mln dlrs per year."
    A company spokesman said the company has already spent
about 23 mln dlrs on Mayo Two. He said no estimate has yet been
made of the cost of canceling the plant, but the company does
not expect to take a charge against earnings.  He said Carolina
Power intends to include the cancellation costs in rate filings
it will make late this year or early next year.
 Reuter
