[BETA] Fortnightly

Transactions

Entergy closed a $346-million deal to acquire the 583-MW Rhode Island State Energy Center.

Constellation Energy signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent of ONEOK Energy Marketing Co. (OEMC), a Tulsa, Okla.-based retail natural gas marketing company with 26,100 customers. The proposed purchase of OEMC, a subsidiary of ONEOK, for $22.5 million, plus working capital, expands Constellation Energy’s business and residential customer base in seven states: Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming and Illinois. The deal is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2012.

Siemens signed an agreement to acquire all of the stock of eMeter, headquartered in San Mateo, Calif. Terms weren’t disclosed. eMeter will be part of the smart grid division of the Siemens Infrastructure & Cities Sector, which is housed within Siemens Industry Inc. eMeter will become a global business segment and center of competence for meter data management (MDM), and will continue operating from its San Mateo headquarters.

Entergy Wholesale Commodities completed the previously announced purchase of the Rhode Island State Energy Center (RISEC), a 583-MW power plant located in Johnston, R.I., from subsidiaries of NextEra Energy for approximately $346 million. The Siemens natural gas-fired combined-cycle generating plant entered service in 2002. RISEC recently completed work with Siemens to uprate its combustion turbines, increasing the facility’s nominal capacity from 550 MW.

Duke Energy and American Transmission Co. acquired the 950-mile Zephyr Power transmission project from Pathfinder Renewable Wind Energy.

OwnEnergy closed a transaction in Kay County, Okla., in which NextEra Energy Resources will acquire, construct and operate the 60-MW Blackwell wind farm. Startup is expected by the end of 2012, with output sold under a long-term contract to Oklahoma Gas & Electric, which entered a parallel 20-year agreement to provide wind power to the Stillwater campus of Oklahoma State University.

A joint venture of Duke Energy and American Transmission Co. (DATC) acquired the Zephyr Power transmission project from a subsidiary of Pathfinder Renewable Wind Energy. The Zephyr project is a 950-mile transmission line that would deliver wind energy generated in eastern Wyoming to California and the southwestern United States. Pathfinder is developing a wind power project on more than 100,000 acres near Chugwater, Wyo., and has committed to use at least 2,100 MW of the Zephyr project’s 3,000-MW capacity. The Zephyr project would originate in Chugwater and terminate in the Eldorado Valley just south of Las Vegas, Nev. The 500-kV high-voltage direct current (HVDC) project, estimated to cost approximately $3.5 billion, will include an AC/DC converter station at each end. While wind generation and transmission development are being pursued separately, Pathfinder and DATC have agreed to work together to increase the viability of the integrated projects.

Duke Energy Renewables purchased the 5-MW Ajo and 15-MW Bagdad solar projects from Recurrent Energy . The Ajo project started up in late September, and the Bagdad project is scheduled for startup by the end of 2012. Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) will buy all of the output from both solar farms under two 25-year agreements. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

JCM Capital signed an agreement with Hay Solar Holdings to provide development, construction, and long-term equity financing for a 30 MW portfolio of modular 100-kW farm building solar installations located throughout Ontario. JCM has secured feed-in-tariff contracts for 65 commercial rooftop sites and