Two Deals Shake Up Northeastern Power Landscape
TransCanada-a leading North American energy company-has struck deals to sell its U.S. Northeast Power business. LS Power will acquire three principally natural gas-fired power plants and a wind farm from TransCanada, while ArcLight Capital Partners will buy 13 hydropower facilities located in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
"The sale of our merchant U.S. Northeast Power business to fund a portion of our acquisition of [Columbia Pipeline Group Inc.] will further enhance the stability and predictability of our earnings and cash flow streams and support a strong and growing dividend," said Russ Girling, TransCanada's president and CEO.
The plants being acquired by LS Power are Ravenswood, a 2,480-MW multiple-unit facility with dual-fuel-capable steam turbine, combined cycle, and combustion turbine units located in Queens, N.Y.; Ironwood, a 778-MW combined cycle plant in Lebanon, Penn.; Ocean State Power, a 560-MW combined cycle plant in Burrillville, R.I.; and Kibby Wind, a 132-MW wind farm in Franklin County, Maine. LS Power, through its affiliate Helix Generation, will pay TransCanada $2.2 billion in cash for the 3,950-MW portfolio.
"LS Power's experience owning and operating a diverse array of generating facilities throughout the Northeast uniquely positions us to acquire this portfolio of power plants," said Paul Segal, CEO of LS Power. "Each of these assets serves a distinct and crucial role to meet the demand needs in their respective Northeast markets."
ArcLight, through its affiliate Great River Hydro, will pay $1.065 billion for TransCanada's 584-MW New England hydroelectric power portfolio. Among the 13 hydro plants-located on the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers-is the 192-MW Moore facility, the largest conventional hydro station in New England.
"We have been incredibly impressed by the quality of both the hydroelectric facilities and the operations team," said Scott Hall, ArcLight's portfolio executive tapped to lead Great River Hydro.
ArcLight has been busy recently. In September, the company, through a joint venture with Blackstone, bought four Midwestern power plants-totaling 5.2 GW of capacity-from American Electric Power for $2.17 billion.
TransCanada hasn't finished monetizing its U.S. Northeast Power business either. It still intends to dump its power marketing business. The company expects to get about $435 million from that sale, but it is unclear if a buyer has already been found.
-Aaron Larson, associate editor (@AaronL_Power, @POWERmagazine)
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