Wisconsin Energy completed the acquisition of Integrys Energy - forming the WEC Energy Group. The new company will provide electricity and natural gas to 4.4 million customers across four states through its customer facing brands - We Energies, Wisconsin Public Service, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Michigan Gas Utilities, and Minnesota Energy Resources.
Consumers Energy launched an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near a Jackson County electric substation to help determine whether the emerging technology can improve how the company serves Michigan residents. Consumers Energy is the fourth energy company in the U.S. and the first in Michigan, to receive approval for UAV use from the Federal Aviation Administration. The UAV is being evaluated on its performance at inspecting wind turbines and above-ground utility equipment such as poles and transformers.
Google chose Tennessee Valley Authority's Widows Creek soon-to-be retired coal plant site in North Alabama to build its newest data center. TVA's board of directors approved the closure of Widows Creek earlier this year following EPA's release of coal combustion rules requiring additional environmental and financial requirements. Google will invest $600 million in this project and will bring jobs to northern Alabama and the TVA region.
Alstom was selected by Transmisión Eléctrica del Norte (TEN), a subsidiary of E-CL an electric company based in Chile and part of the Engie Group, to supply four turnkey substations for Chile's first interconnection system, the Mejillones - Cardones Transmission line. The contract, worth approximately $278 million, includes the installation of three new 500-kV substations in Chacayita, Los Changos and Cumbres, as well as the expansion of the Nueva Cardones substation.
NRG Yield, through its subsidiary NRG Yield Operating, entered into an agreement with GE Energy Financial Services to acquire its 25 percent interest in the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm in Riverside, CA for $285 million, subject to customary working capital adjustments, plus the assumption of $287.4 million of non-recourse project level debt.
sPower acquired its first wind project, a 62.1-MW facility in Monticello, Utah. The project is scheduled to begin construction this summer and should start generating clean energy at the end of 2015. The project has a 20-year PPA with PacifiCorp, which does business as Rocky Mountain Power in Utah.
Pattern Energy Group (Pattern Energy) closed the previously announced acquisition of a one-third interest in the 270-MW K2 Wind Power Facility in Ontario from Pattern Energy Group LP (Pattern Development). Pattern Energy will hold a 33% equity interest in the facility, which is equally co-owned by Samsung Renewable Energy and Capital Power.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency must – first – consider the costs of compliance before fixing a specific cap on mercury emissions. What’s next?
Today's Court Ruling: High Court Takes Heat Out of Mercury Rule
AES Distributed Energy, a subsidiary of AES, commissioned a 4-MW solar project located in Dublin, Georgia. This system is the first of two solar PV projects being developed by AES Distributed Energy and its partners, collectively expected to supply 20 MW to the Georgia Power utility grid. The second, 16 MW project, is under development and is expected to be operational in the first half of 2016.