TransAlta Declares Force Majeure on Keephills 1 Power Plant

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - March 26, 2013) - TransAlta Corporation (TSX:TA)(NYSE:TAC) today announced that it has declared force majeure due to a winding failure found in the generator of its 395 megawatt Keephills 1 power plant (the "Unit") located near Wabamun, Alberta. TransAlta is working with the original equipment manufacturer of the generator to safely return the Unit to service, which is currently expected to be on or about April 21, 2013.

TransAlta has given notice under the Power Purchase Arrangement ("PPA") to the PPA buyer and the Balancing Pool of a High Impact Low Probability ("HILP") Force Majeure event. In the event of a force majeure, TransAlta is entitled to continue to receive its PPA capacity payment and is protected under the terms of the PPA from having to pay availability penalties. As a result, TransAlta does not expect the outage to have a material financial impact on the corporation.

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 condition of the generator at the Unit, the characterization of the outage at the Unit as a force majeure event, the time required to repair the Unit and the financial impact of the outage on TransAlta. These statements are based on TransAlta'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, without limitation, unexpected complications and delays in carrying out the repairs to the generator in the Unit.