TransAlta Announces Long-Term Geothermal Contract with City of Riverside

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - June 18, 2013) - TransAlta Corporation (TSX:TA)(NYSE:TAC) announced today that CalEnergy, LLC, a joint venture with MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, had executed an 86 MW long-term contract for renewable geothermal power with the City of Riverside. Under the power purchase agreement, which runs from 2016 to 2039, CalEnergy will provide the power from a portfolio of geothermal generating facilities in California's Imperial Valley.

"Securing long-term contracts and growing our renewable portfolio within our core markets is a key focus of our business strategy." said Dawn Farrell, TransAlta President and CEO. "This contract will extend the life of the geothermal facilities and create long term value for our shareholders."

The 24-year power purchase agreement builds on an existing relationship with the City of Riverside and represents 25 per cent of the total capacity of the Imperial Valley geothermal facilities. CalEnergy is continuing its work to market the remainder of the capacity from the 10 geothermal facilities as the existing contracts roll off.

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TransAlta is a power generation and wholesale marketing company focused on creating long-term shareholder value. TransAlta maintains a low-to-moderate risk profile by operating a highly contracted portfolio of assets in Canada, the United States and Australia. TransAlta's focus is to efficiently operate geothermal, wind, hydro, natural gas and coal facilities in order to provide customers with a reliable, low-cost source of power. For over 100 years, TransAlta has been a responsible operator and a proud contributor to the communities in which it works and lives. TransAlta has been selected by Jantzi-Sustainalytics as one of Canada's Top 50 Socially Responsible Companies since 2009 and is recognized globally for its leadership on sustainability and corporate responsibility standards by FTSE4Good. TransAlta is Canada's largest investor-owned renewable energy provider.

This news release may contain forward looking statements, including statements regarding the business and anticipated financial performance of TransAlta Corporation. These statements are based on TransAlta Corporation's belief and assumptions based on information available at the time the assumption was made. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that could cause such differences include legislative or regulatory developments, competition, global capital markets activity, changes in prevailing interest rates, currency exchange rates, inflation levels, commodity prices and general economic conditions in geographic areas where TransAlta Corporation operates.