FOLLOWING MONTHS OF SPECULATION BY INDUSTRY players, Corbin A. McNeill Jr., chairman and CEO of PECO Energy Co., has formally announced that the company will focus on nuclear generation.
The mid-April revelation didn't take many speculators by surprise.
PECO has decided to focus on generation, nuclear generation in particular. While many other companies have chosen to abandon this risky part of the business, PECO is entering it with both feet. The company believes that nuclear is where its strength and expertise lie. The same can be said about McNeill (em nearly every position he's held in his 30-plus-year career has had the word "nuclear" in the title. PECO plans to sniff out bargain-priced generating plants and turn them into moneymaking opportunities. As more companies divest, PECO will have its pick of the plants.
"We're going to maintain our pipes and wires business here in Philadelphia. But we are not actively pursuing right now any other opportunities in that area," McNeill says.
What has sparked some discussion, however, is whether the company is the "unnamed potential bidder" on GPU Inc.'s Oyster Creek and Three Mile Island plants. PECO expressed interest in Oyster Creek as early as last year, according to information from PaineWebber.
McNeill declined to comment, saying "we don't discuss potential merger and acquisition." He did indicate, however, that there are plans to make more purchases in the U.S. in the near-term.