Renewable power

NextEra Energy Partners Acquired 664 MW of Wind Asset

NextEra Energy Partners completed its previously announced agreement to acquire approximately 664 MW of operating renewable power generation assets from the sponsor, NextEra Energy Resources. The additional facilities include: Ashtabula Wind III, a 62.4-MW wind generating facility located in Barnes County, N.D.; Baldwin, a 102.4-MW wind generating facility located in Burleigh County, N.D.; Mammoth Plains, a 198.9-MW wind generating facility located in Dewey and Blaine Counties, Okla.; and Stateline, a 300-MW wind generating facility located on the border of

Green Dealing

Renewable M&A lives on despite death of Treasury cash grants.

The U.S. Treasury cash grants for new renewable power projects expired at the end of 2011. These incentives, which were implemented under Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, helped to support continued capacity additions throughout the recession. The impending expiration of these grants caused a wave of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity during 2011 as developers and financiers rushed to get deals done and to begin construction in order to meet the Section 1603, 5-percent safe harbor threshold by the Dec. 31, 2011 deadline.

Commerce Clause Conflict

In-state green mandates face Constitutional challenges.

In effort to promote local green energy resources, some states are enacting policies that tread on federal authority. Restrictions on power imports to satisfy RPS requirements might violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Can the states foster home-grown energy without running afoul of federal laws?

Back to Business

Utility deals resume after 18 months of austerity.

Utilities are taking advantage of a sweet spot in the capital markets, pre-funding and refinancing at record low rates. But cheap money won’t resolve overhanging uncertainties preventing cap-ex projects and M&A deals. Greater certainty in America’s economic and policy outlook will clear a path for strategic change.

Middle Mile Moxie

Xcel Energy proposes to create America’s first fully functional intelligent grid, with communications and automation systems linking the network from end to end, power plants to meters. Although Xcel still is deploying the system, it’s shown that the early payoff from smart-grid investments won’t necessarily come from automated metering, but from automation in the distribution network—the “middle mile.” As chief architect of the Smart Grid City project in Boulder, Colo., Ray Gogel served on the front lines in the industry’s technology revolution.