Electric Power news briefs, November 28

Nov. 28, 2000
Beacon Power Corp. ... Bay Gas Storage Co. Ltd. ... EnergySouth Inc. ... Enron Corp. ... Solo Energy Corp. ... AES Corp. ... TotalFinaElf SA ... Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. ... Northeast Utilities ... U.S. Energy Systems Inc. ... Cinergy Solutions Inc. ... Zahren Alternative Power Corp.


Beacon Power Corp. said it completed an initial public offering of 8 million shares of common stock at $6/share, raising $44.6 million in gross proceeds. Beacon designs, manufactures, and markets advanced flywheel technology products that provide reliable electronic power for the information economy. The lead underwriter offering was Salomon Smith Barney Inc., and the comanagers were Banc of America Securities LLC and CIBC World Markets Corp.

Bay Gas Storage Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of EnergySouth Inc., reported it will construct an 18-mile, 24-in pipeline in Mobile County between an interconnect at Koch Gateway Pipeline's 30-in interstate pipeline west of Mobile, in Whistler, Ala. to Bay Gas's existing pipeline system in Axis, Ala. Construction is expected to be completed in June 2001.

A subsidiary of Enron Corp. has made a cash investment in Solo Energy Corp., and the two companies have formed a partnership under which Enron will assist Solo Energy in securing supplier contracts and support market and gas technology research, in exchange for warrants to purchase Solo Energy preferred stock, Solo reported. Solo Energy will begin commercial testing of its microturbine products at key customer and partner locations in 2001 and will market energy service contracts based on its Wireless Energy technology thereafter, principally to commercial and light industrial companies, the company said.

AES Corp. said it reached an agreement with TotalFinaElf SA providing, that if AES acquires control of Gener SA, it will sell Gener's Argentine electricity generation and transmission assets to TotalFinaElf for $652 million. The sale would be subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence by TotalFinaElf. As previously reported, AES is offering to purchase all outstanding Gener American Depositary Shares in the US for AES common stock having a value of $16/ADS and 3.5 billion Gener shares in Chile at the Chilean peso equivalent price per share in cash.

Consolidated Edison Inc. unit Consolidated Edison Co. of New York Inc. (Con Edison) said the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) approved Con Edison's pending $3.3 billion acquisition of Northeast Utilities. The agreement provides that $18.5 million, representing about one-half of the anticipated savings from the merger applicable to Con Edison's electric customers, be returned to those customers annually starting Apr. 1, 2001, if the acquisition is has been completed. Under the PSC agreement, Con Edison will provide $1.5 billion in rate benefits to customers in addition to the more than $1.1 billion provided for in a 1997 agreement. The acquisition is still subject to various other regulatory approvals.

U.S. Energy Systems Inc. and its joint venture partner, Cinergy Solutions Inc., an affiliate of Cincinnati-based Cinergy Corp. reported a definitive agreement to acquire Zahren Alternative Power Corp. (ZAPCO), a developer and operator of renewable energy projects. The $98 million transaction includes $10 million in U.S.Energy Systems common stock, valued at $6/share, and $3 million in convertible preferred stock; $12.8 million in cash; and approximately $72 million in assumed subsidiary debt. The transaction is expected to close in early 2001. ZAPCO owns and operates 24 landfill gas-to-energy projects and one natural gas cogeneration plant.