WORTHINGTON, Ohio, June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (OTCQB: MEEC) today announces an update on its current operations and offers a market discussion by its President and CEO.
As background, in April of 2012, the U.S. EPA's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule was finalized, requiring U.S. coal and oil-fired units over 25 megawatts in size to reduce mercury emissions by approximately 90% (the exact amount depending on the mercury content in the fuel burned), starting in April 2015. The EPA believes that this law affects 1,100 coal and 300 oil-fired units and estimates the annual cost of compliance with the new standards to be approximately $9 billion. Currently, several states have established their own limits on mercury emissions, providing for a near-term market opportunity for MEEC; while the major market for mercury removal resulting from MATS's deadline for compliance will be realized in less than two years. All power plants affected by the MATS rule will be required to be fully compliant with the MATS standards by April 2015 (with a one year extension available in certain circumstances). This new mercury emissions capture services market will create a large and on-going, annual revenue stream for the very best suppliers of such services.
Alan Kelley, President and Chief Executive Officer said, "We announced earlier this year that we had signed agreements with two major US power producers in the Southwest to perform demonstrations of our mercury removal technology on several of their units. We are pleased to report that all the demonstrations went very well and achieved the results that we expected, which, in each case, included getting mercury emissions below the MATS limit. We anticipate discussions and negotiations with these utilities for long-term supply contracts for their mercury emissions control. In addition, we are in discussions with other utilities for demonstrations on their units this summer and early fall. It is a very busy time for our company, but our operating results continue to demonstrate success in getting unit emissions under the MATS limits with the least effect on balance of plant systems for any supplier that we know of. "
Mr. Kelley continued, "For an average size coal unit of about 500 megawatts, the cost of achieving a 90% reduction in mercury emissions utilizing our technology will typically be between $2 million and $5 million per year. Therefore, for purposes of calculating potential income for the company, we estimate that each average-sized unit will generate approximately $3.5 million in revenue for MEEC. EPA estimates the number of coal units affected by the regulation to be about 1100, so there is a large market for services such as MEEC's that will emerge in 2015."
"As utilities finalize their plans for MATS compliance by the April 2015 deadline, we anticipate more demonstrations over the next nine months or so. We also anticipate a very active competitive market in the 2016-2020 time-frame, as utilities look at the results achieved by other utilities and switch to technologies offering better overall value, such as ours," concluded Mr. Kelley.
About Midwest Energy Emissions Corp. (ME2C)
We deliver cost effective mercury capture technologies to power plant and other large industrial coal-burning units in the United States and Canada. Our proprietary technology allows customers to meet even the new, highly restrictive standards the U.S. EPA has set for mercury emissions, in an effective and economical manner with the least disruption to the current equipment and on-going operations. For more information, see our website at www.midwestemissions.com.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for such forward-looking statements. The words, "believe," "project," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "will" and other similar statements of expectation identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Matters that may cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among other factors, the gain or loss of a major customer, change in environmental regulations, disruption in supply of materials, a significant change in general economic conditions in any of the regions where our customer utilities might experience significant changes in electric demand, a significant disruption in the supply of coal to our customer units, the loss of key management personnel, failure to obtain adequate working capital to execute the business plan and any major litigation regarding the Company. In addition, this release contains time-sensitive information that reflects management's best analysis only as of the date of this release. The Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events, information or circumstances that arise after the date of this release. Further information concerning issues that could materially affect financial performance related to forward-looking statements contained in this release can be found in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: | Keith R. McGee |
Director of Investor Relations | |
kmcgee@midwestemissions.com | |
(614) 505-6115 |
SOURCE Midwest Energy Emissions Corp.
