Compaq Computer Corp. has signed a 5-year energy management contract with Enron Energy Services, a subsidiary of Enron Corp., Enron reported. Enron will manage the supply of electricity and natural gas, as well as provide related energy management services for facilities in California, Massachusetts, and Texas, including Compaq's Houston headquarters. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
ATCO Power, a unit of Atco Ltd., Alberta, opened a $75 million (Can.) 87 Mw cogeneration facility at Queensland Clean Fuels Project near Brisbane, the company said. The plant will supply all energy to the $500 million Queensland project, which includes new hydrocracker, air separation and partial oxidation units. The cogeneration facility is owned by the Bulwer Island Energy Partnership, made up of ATCO Power, Lend Lease Capital Services, and Origin Energy.
Wisconsin Electric, a unit of Wisconsin Energy Corp., said it is installing a 28 kw gas-fired microturbine at an elementary school that will run during day time hours to shave the school's peak electric demand and save on its net energy bill. The company said the test will give it better understanding of a new technology that may play a major role in providing electricity in the future.
Xcelecom Inc., a nonregulated business unit of UIL Holdings Corp. said it has agreed to acquire McPhee Electric Ltd. LLC, an electrical contracting company based in Farmington, Conn. The acquisition also includes McPhee Utility & Power Signal Ltd., a sister company focused on utility, high voltage, and traffic signal market segments. The McPhee acquisition will be Xcelecom's sixth overall and largest to date as it continues to build a network of contracting and services companies from Boston to Virginia. The McPhee acquisition is expected to add about $60 million to Xcelecom's annual revenues and will add immediately to UIL Holdings earnings, the company said.
Southern Co. and subsidiary Southern Energy Inc. reported closing of the initial public offering of Southern Energy common stock resulted in total gross proceeds to Southern Energy from the IPO and a concurrent securities offering were about $1.81 billion. Southern Energy sold at $22/share 66.7 million shares of common stock, including 8.7 million shares sold after underwriters exercised an overallotment option. Southern Energy also sold at $50/security 6.9 million shares of convertible trust preferred securities, including 900,000 securities sold after underwriters exercised an overallotment option. The convertible trust preferred securities were priced to yield 6.25% with a conversion price of $27.50/share.
Ameren Corp. said it has become one of eight founding members of Enporion Inc., an online global procurement exchange for the energy industry. Estimates indicate that Enporion is expected to significantly reduce purchasing costs in both Ameren's regulated and unregulated businesses. Enporion is scheduled for commercial operation by yearend..
Singapore conglomerate SembCorp Industries (SCI) could enter the bidding for PowerSenoko, PowerSeraya, and Tuas Power now that a subsidiary has been awarded a license to supply industrial users with electricity, said SCI president and CEO Wong Ko Siew. Ownership of a power plant, would shield SCI from the wide fluctuations in prices in the wholesale market, also known as the electricity pool, he said. SCI and its partners are already building a gas-fired cogeneration plant on Jurong Island. The plant, which will be operational by the middle of next year, will produce 815 Mw of electricity and 700 tonnes/hour of steam. Both products will be sold to the chemical and petrochemical plants on Jurong Island.
Commonwealth Edison Co., a unit of Unicom Corp., Chicago, said its Dresden nuclear power station Unit 3, Morris, Ill., is back on line, after setting a new refueling outage duration record for US boiling water reactors (BWR) of 17 days, 23 hr, and 55 min. The Unit 3 reactor began generating electricity Tuesday and is expected to be at full power by Friday afternoon, the company said. Unit 3 came off line Sept. 15 for its 16th refueling outage.
