Bonds / Debt Markets

Blockchain: Future of Renewable Trading?

Blocking and Tackling

The blockchain is a more secure method for recording transactions, because as a distributed ledger, it does not have a single centralized point of storage that can be hacked.

Interest Rates After the Election

What they Mean for Public Utility Returns

This article highlights rate drivers that could lead to yield movements upwards or downwards, and even into nominal negative interest rates. We then analyze how policy and market developments could affect the analyses used to establish public utility returns and expert debate in adjudicated rate cases.

Local Financing Benefits U.S. Utilities

Banks, Utilities Find Natural Fit

Local banks are still an under-utilized resource for electric utilities, despite the role these banks played historically. Regional and local banks are often healthier than big banks, according to the Federal Reserve.

Hailed a Taxi Lately?

Economic disruption and the future of electric utilities.

Other industries deregulated and it reduced prices and encouraged innovation. What happened to the utility sector?

Transactions (April 2015)

Chesapeake Utilities agreed to acquire Gatherco for $59.2 million, merging it into wholly-owned subsidiary Aspire Energy of Ohio; Canadian Solar agreed with Sharp Corp. to acquire Recurrent Energy for $265 million; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed U.S. publicly-traded company with a rate base of approximately $8.3 billion; Plus debt offerings from Williams Partners and Cheniere Energy.

Transactions (January 2015)

SunEdison and TerraForm Power agreed to acquire First Wind for $2.4 billion; Emera will sell its 49% interest in Northeast Wind Partners II to First Wind for $223.3 million; Calpine completed its acquisition of Fore River Energy Center from Exelon for $530 million; NorthWestern Energy closed its $900 million purchase of 11 hydroelectric facilities and one storage reservoir from PPL Montana; juwi solar sold ownership interests in a 50-MW solar facility to Dominion; Dominion acquired a 20-MW solar facility from Canadian Solar.

Transactions (December 2014)

NRG Energy acquired Pure Energies Group, a residential solar industry provider; Duke Energy Progress filed with FERC for approval to purchase the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency’s generating assets for $1.2 billion; Trina Solar Limited signed a share purchase agreement to sell a power plant to funds managed by Foresight Group LLP; AES entered into an agreement to sell its 49.62% equity interest in a joint venture in Turkey; Southern Power acquired the 150-MW Solar Gen 2 solar facility in California from First Solar; SolarCity is planning to launch what would be the first registered public offering of solar bonds in the US; and debt offerings from Dynegy and ComEd.

Transactions (November 2014)

PPL Montana sold its hydroelectric facilities to NorthWestern Energy for $900 million; Chesapeake Utilities sold BravePoint; Echelon completed the sale of its grid operations to S&T AG; Plus a debt redemption from Virginia Electric & Power, a private placement offering from DPL, and an IPO for Dominion Midstream Partners.