HOUSTON, TEXAS, July 12, 2001—El Paso Corporation (NYSE:EPG) announced that on June 29, 2001, its wholly owned subsidiary, Golden Power Acquisition, L.L.C., purchased Ahlstrom Development Corporation, an American subsidiary of A. Ahlstrom Corporation of Finland. This transaction gives El Paso an equity interest in five coal-fired power plants located in California and Pennsylvania.

All five plants use circulating fluidized bed boiler technology, developed by Ahlstrom, for burning coal in an environmentally friendly way. The total production capacity of the projects being purchased is 420 megawatts, of which El Paso's net interest is 123 megawatts.
The facilities, which include the Colver, Gilberton and Panther Creek plants located in Pennsylvania, and the ACE and Mount Poso plants located in California, are all under long-term power purchase agreements.

"This acquisition marks El Paso's entrance into clean coal technology," said Clark C. Smith, president of El Paso Merchant North America. "These facilities will continue to provide firm power to their respective markets while being sensitive to the environment."

El Paso Corporation is committed to meeting energy needs throughout North America and the world with operations that span the energy value chain from wellhead to electron. The company is focused on speeding the development of new technologies, such as clean coal and liquefied natural gas, to address critical energy shortages across the globe. Visit El Paso at www.elpaso.com.

This release includes forward-looking statements and projections, made in reliance on the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The company has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information and assumptions on which these statements and projections are based are current, reasonable, and complete. However, a variety of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the projections, anticipated results or other expectations expressed in this release. While the company makes these statements and projections in good faith, neither the company nor its management can guarantee that the anticipated future results will be achieved. Reference should be made to the company's (and its affiliates') Securities and Exchange Commission filings for additional important factors that may affect actual results.