Merchant Energy Partners' Groundbreaking Ceremony for East Cheyenne Gas Storage Facility Attended by 200, Including Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper

DENVER, May 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, Merchant Energy Partners, LLC, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for its East Cheyenne Gas Storage (ECGS) project near Sterling, Colorado. More than 200 were in attendance, including industry and government officials and Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, who spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony. "We need these alternative sources of revenue and a more diversified economy in the state of Colorado, and I think that's what wind energy does, and that's what this gas storage facility is going to do," said Governor Hickenlooper. "Energy should be the backbone of that diversification."

"It was our honor to mark the exciting next phase of this project alongside the people and governmental leadership of Colorado," said Andy Lang, president of Merchant Energy. "The availability of gas storage enables the successful implementation of Colorado's Clean Air-Clean Jobs Act of 2010. Power generators will be able to more efficiently produce electricity by augmenting their gas supply portfolio with gas storage from facilities like East Cheyenne."

East Cheyenne will share parts of the site's surface area with the NextEra Energy Peetz Table/Logan wind energy generation center. "We believe that the combination of wind farms and natural gas storage provides the optimal solution for producing the cleanest, most cost-effective, sustainable electricity for Colorado," said Dr. Larry Bickle, cofounder of Merchant Energy's parent Quantum NGS Holdings. "We see this facility as an integral part of the bridge to a cleaner energy future in Colorado and the U.S."

East Cheyenne will be the first independent natural gas storage facility in the Rocky Mountain region and will initially serve customers off Trailblazer Pipeline (and eventually, the Rockies Express Pipeline). The $300 million project will have working gas injection in fall 2011 and be fully built out over the next several years. The project is FERC certificated for up to 18.9 Bcf in working gas capacity.

About Merchant Energy

Merchant Energy Partners (www.merchantenergypartners.com) is a Houston, Texas-based company (with a satellite office in Littleton, Colorado) owned by Quantum NGS Holdings (www.quantumep.com), also based in Houston. Merchant Energy is focused on the development, construction and operation of natural gas storage projects throughout the United States. Learn more at www.eastcheyenne.com.

Contact:
Kevin Legg
Merchant Energy Partners
10901 West Toller Drive, Suite 200
Littleton, Colorado 80127
(720) 351-4004
[email protected]

SOURCE Merchant Energy Partners, LLC