AEC receives $130 million guarantee

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service approved $130 million in loan guarantees to Springfield-based Associated Electric Cooperative.

The cash will help finance the AEC's new 321-megawatt generating plant in Johnson County that began operations May 31, a House press release said.

The new AEC plant at Holden has three peaking, clean-burning, natural-gas turbines that generate 107 megawatts of power each. AEC supplies electric power to rural areas in Missouri and parts of Iowa and Oklahoma through electric cooperatives.

AEC employs 623 employees company-wide and 171 at its Springfield headquarters. Annual revenues at 2001 year-end were $692 million, said Ronda Earnhart, senior administrative assistant for the company.