POWER PLANT SALE. Central Maine Power Co. has agreed to
sell its hydroelectric, fossil and biomass power plants totaling 1,185-MW of generating capacity to FPL Group, the holding company of Florida Power and Light. The sale price of $846 million exceeds book value and could permit up to a 10-percent rate cut for customers by the end of the year.
OHIO/TEXAS DEAL. Ohio-based American Electric Power
Co. and Texas-based Central and South West Corp. on Dec. 22 announced that they have entered an agreement to merge, creating a company with a total market capitalization of about $28.1 billion. The companies anticipate merger-related savings of about $2 billion over a ten-year period but estimated 1,300 out of a total of 25,000 domestic jobs will be lost.
CAJUN BANKRUPTCY. Entergy Gulf States has acquired the
30-percent share of the River Bend nuclear power plant formerly owned by Cajun Electric Power Cooperative Inc. Entergy now has 100-percent ownership of the plant. The acquisition was part of a larger agreement ending a series of disputes between the two companies that spawned litigation for eight years. Entergy Gulf States took title to Cajun's interest in River Bend from Cajun's trustee in bankruptcy, Ralph R. Mabey, at the direction of the Rural Utilities Service, formerly the Rural Electrification Administration, the major secured creditor in Cajun's ongoing bankruptcy case.
PLANS TERMINATED. Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. and