Mergers & Acquisitions

Writing 'The Power Brokers'

Jeremiah D. Lambert, a lawyer in Washington, D.C., has served PJM and other clients in the electric utility industry and has written extensively on energy-related topics.

In “The Power Brokers: The Struggle to Shape and Control the Electric Power Industry,” I sought to craft a narrative, telling the story of an essential bedrock business through the players who influenced its course.

Is Cleantech Coming of Age?

Analysis of investment data from the Cleantech Group i3 platform.

Private investment flows into cleantech reveal consistent signs of maturation. Cleantech is becoming more mature, diverse, and in some sectors – perhaps such as utilities – increasingly “conventional.”

PPL CEO Interviewed

We went to Allentown and talked with Bill Spence.

What are the most exciting things happening at PPL? What were the biggest challenges in that journey? Were there some tough challenges you had to get through?

Digest (June 2015)

Duke Energy completed the sale of its non-regulated Midwest Commercial Generation Business to Dynegy for $2.8 billion; Sempra U.S. Gas & Power acquired the Black Oak Getty wind project in Minnesota from Geronimo Energy; Toshiba received an order to supply two sets of 175-MW steam turbine and generators in Chihuahua, Mexico; Alstom Grid was awarded a $23 million contract to supply the first 500 kV substation a substation near Bogota, Colombia; SunEdison agreed to construct and install three solar power plants in southern Utah with a total capacity of 262 MW; Mississippi Power plans to build utility-scale solar farms with a combined capacity represent the largest solar installation in the state; Phoenix Energy's joint venture, North Fork Community Power's project was awarded a $4.9 million grant to construct one of the first forest-sourced biomass gasification plants; Westinghouse Electric will increase the capacity of the cooling system at the Central Interim Storage Facility for Spent Nuclear Fuel (Clab) located in Sweden.

Digest (May 2015)

Sonoma Clean Power will build the largest floating solar array in the U.S., scheduled to be completed in 2016 and will create enough energy to power 3,000 houses; GE announced the construction of two service centers focused on the operation and maintenance of wind turbines in Brazil; Open Systems International was awarded a contract by Seattle City Light to implement a new energy management system; FirstEnergy expects to invest about $225 million on distribution and transmission infrastructure projects in north-central West Virginia; APR Energy commissioned an expansion of its power plant in Myanmar; The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved Westinghouse Electric’s testing approach for the Westinghouse small modular reactor design; FuelCell Energy agreed to sell a 1.4-MW fuel cell power plant project to NRG Energy; ABB and Samsung SDI signed a memorandum of understanding to promote microgrid solutions globally; And others ...

Digest (April 2015)

PG&E asked state regulators for permission to build ~ 25,000 EV chargers across its service area in Northern and Central California - if approved, it would mark the largest deployment of EV charging stations in the country; Lockheed Martin and Dominion Resources have co-developed a new smart grid technology called VirtuGrid to enable remote detection of power outages for faster mapping and response; Panda Power Funds and Sunbury Generation LP will develop, finance, construct and operate a 1,000-MW gas-fired, combined-cycle power project in Pennsylvania; Siemens secured an order of 157 wind turbines in South Africa from Mainstream Renewable Power; PSE&G recently put two new landfill solar farms in service as part of its Solar 4 All program; Exelon Generation will add 195-MW of electric generation capacity at the Medway (Mass.) facility; ABB won a $35 million order for gas-insulated switchgear and shunt reactors from Belgian electricity transmission system operator Elia; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed publicly traded company; Chesapeake Utilities agreed to merge Gatherco into Aspire Energy of Ohio, a wholly-owned subsidiary; and others...

Digest (March 2015)

Pacific Gas and Electric and automaker BMW are teaming up to test the ability of EV batteries to provide services to the electric grid; MidAmerican Energy completed work on four of five wind farms across Iowa that make up its Wind VIII project; GE received an order from the Tennessee Valley Authority to supply two high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas turbine generators for the new combined-cycle Allen plant; Appalachian Power plans to rebuild the existing South Bluefield-Wythe 69-kV transmission line; Bechtel partnered with Westinghouse Electric to provide decontamination and decommissioning services for nuclear power plants throughout the U.S.; SunEdison and Omnigrid Micropower signed a framework agreement to develop 5,000 rural projects, representing 250 MW of electricity, throughout India; The Tennessee Valley Authority and DuPont partnered to generate power and steam at TVA's Johnsonville site in Tennessee; and others.

Transactions (March 2015)

TerraForm acquired 21 U.S. distributed generation solar power plants from SunEdison; Emera closed the sale of its 49 percent interest in Northeast Wind Partners II to First Wind Holdings; Alterra Power completed its sale of its Fallon, Nevada geothermal facility to an affiliate of Cyrq Energy; Accenture agreed to acquire Structure, a provider of consulting, system integration and customized solutions and services to energy and utility clients; and others.

Digest (February 2015)

Europe’s largest battery-storage project was officially opened in England; CODA Energy announced operation of the largest behind the meter lithium-ion energy storage system in the Los Angeles basin; FERC approved construction of Constitution Pipeline’s natural gas pipeline to New York and New England markets; FERC approved a facilities construction agreement for Minnesota Power’s Great Northern Transmission Line; General Electric received an order from the Tennessee Valley Authority for two high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas-fired turbine generators; A Renewable Energy Southern Company subsidiary plans to develop a 131- MW PV solar project in Georgia; GE Global Research and others partnered on a research project to improve reliability and resiliency of electricity delivery in northern New York; Duke Energy Renewables acquired the Halifax Solar Power Project from Geenex and ET Solar Energy;  Dominion Resources agreed to purchase Carolina Gas Transmission from SCANA Corp.; and others...

Transactions (February 2015)

ONEOK Partners completed its acquisition of assets from Chevron affiliates for about $800 million; Dominion Resources agreed to purchase Carolina Gas Transmission from SCANA Corp. for about $492.9 million; Entergy subsidiaries acquired the Union Power Station for $948 million; ALLETE Clean Energy acquired a 108-MW wind generation facility; Duke Energy Renewables acquired the Halifax Solar Power Project from Geenex and ET Solar Energy; Pattern Energy Group acquired the 200-MW Logan’s Gap Wind project in Texas for about $113 million; An affiliate of Starwood Energy Group Global agreed to acquire a 369-MW portfolio of three natural gas facilities from Lakeside Energy; NextEra Energy and Hawaiian Electric Industries agreed to combine.