Wisconsin Energy Corporation
's (
WEC
) subsidiary Wisconsin Electric Power Company and Wisconsin Gas
LLC (trade name "We Energies") has entered into joint-ownership
and air quality control agreements with the Wolverine Power
Cooperative.
Per the contract, Wolverine will obtain a minority interest in
this facility by funding roughly $130 - $140 million and
installing state-of-the-art emission control equipments at the
Presque Isle Power Plant in Marquette, Michigan. We Energies will
continue to activate the plant and the air quality control
operations. These new installations are subject to numerous
government approvals.
In January 2012, both the companies signed a letter of intent to
assess the creation of this joint venture and investment in
environmental enhancements at the Presque Isle power plant. In
the future, this exercise could lead to the joint-ownership of
the Presque Isle facility and construction of state-of-the art
emission controls. Over the next couple of months, the two
companies worked together to determine the practicality of this
contract for fulfilling the expected environmental legislations.
The Presque Isle Power Plant is situated on 65 acres of land at
the shore of Lake Superior. It consists of five coal and two
diesel-fueled units, which have the capacity to generate roughly
431 megawatts. The units were built between 1974 and 1979.
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") is continually
rolling out new regulations for providing clean energy to
customers. To follow these environment-related legislations, the
state and local bodies and utility companies invest substantial
amounts for upgrading their existing set-ups and installing new
renewable carbon-free assets to meet environmental regulations.
In the present context, this public-private-partnership not only
improves environmental conditions of the locality but also
economic situations of the region. In the future, this contract
will create new jobs and protect the local tax-base for the
community along with providing clean utility.
We expect more such agreements in the near term as these kinds of
contracts would help We Energies to develop more pollution-free
assets and provide higher quantity of emission-free utility to
its customers.
In addition, we believe these types of transactions create a
win-win situation for both the parties. As these agreements allow
one party to leverage its strong position in the utility sector
backed by the requisite funding, the other party benefits from
obtaining a minority interest in these facilities.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Wisconsin Energy Corporation engages
in generation and distribution of electricity in southeastern,
east central, and northern Wisconsin, and upper peninsula of
Michigan.
With a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, the company has
4,595 full time employees. Both Wisconsin Energy Corporation and
one of its peers
DTE Energy Company
(
DTE
) currently have a short-term Zacks #2 Rank (Buy rating).
DTE ENERGY CO (DTE): Free Stock Analysis
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WISC ENERGY CP (WEC): Free Stock Analysis
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