A subsidiary of Sempra Energy (SRE) recently became an equal partner of a BP Plc. (BP) unit for developing a 200MW Fowler Ridge II Wind Farm in Benton County, Indiana. 

The Fowler Ridge joint venture is currently under construction on a 17,000-acre site, about 90 miles northwest of Indianapolis and is expected to be operational in the first quarter of fiscal 2010. The 200MW facility will produce enough electricity for nearly 60,000 homes.

The project's entire power output has already been sold under four, long-term 50-MW contracts. Three of these deals were signed with units of American Electric Power (AEP) and one with Vectren Energy Delivery (VVC) of Indiana for 20-year terms each. The project will use 133 wind turbines, each with the ability to generate 1.5 MW.

The Fowler Ridge II development is an expansion of Fowler Ridge I, a 400-MW wind farm that commenced operations

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PG&E Corp.’s (PCG) second-quarter earnings of 83 cents per share stopped a penny short of the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. However, it surpassed the year-ago profit of 80 cents a share. Also, quarterly GAAP EPS rose to $1.02 boosted by tax refund and recovery of Hydro divestiture costs, compared to 80 cents in the year-ago period.

San Francisco, California-based PG&E’s earnings grew 32% to $388 million due to one-time gains and higher power rates. Operating income grew 12% to $656 million but revenue fell to $3.19 billion from $3.58 billion year over year. Revenue for both electricity and natural gas was down.

The quarter-over-quarter increase in earnings from operations was due to higher authorized revenue on superior capital investments in improvement of utility infrastructure. This was partially offset by expenses for environmental remediation activities.

PG&E raised long-term debt of $2.2 billion in 2008 and $1.2 billion in 2007

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Going forward, as the utility continues to focus primarily on regulated utility operations, positive investment factors for PG&E (PCG) including favorable decisions from the CPUC and FERC such as a CPUC authorized 11.35% ROE until 2010, long-term supply agreements, diversification into alternative power sources and infrastructure improvement programs such as the Cornerstone-Smart Meter-Tesla generating station, long-term supply agreements, diversification into alternative power sources and an increased dividend may be partially offset by risks including rising natural gas prices, increased purchased power costs, earnings dilutive stock issuances, and an over-leveraged balance sheet.PG&E reported financial results for the 1st quarter and year ended March 31, 2009. In the reported quarter, GAAP net income after dividends on preferred stock was $241 million, or $0.65 per share, up from the same period last year when net income after dividends on preferred stock was $224 million, or $0.62 per ...

In this time of uncertainty, there is one thing definitely clear – people will continue to need and use utilities. That’s the wager that nuclear power giant Exelon is making as it put in a $6.2 billion bid for NRG Energy. If the deal goes through, Exelon would become the nation’s largest power company. Two years ago, NRG declined an offer from Mirant Corp for $8 Billion.

The combined Exelon and NRG would be big enough to power nearly 45 million homes with 47,000 megawatts. It would have a diverse power mix and a market capitalization of $40 billion. If NRG agrees to the deal, it would be the second big power generation merger announced in the past month. A unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is buying wholesale power generator Constellation Energy Group Inc. of Baltimore for the bargain price of $4.7 billion.

“This company combined would be the

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A year ago, the prevailing forecast was for oil prices to decline to the mid-50’s for more than a year. Opinions have changed in the face of the reality of high current prices.

Natural gas, which was at historic highs, was used as justification for utility companies to obtain rate increases for their electricity and natural gas customers. Gas has managed do come down considerably since then. We won’t hold our breath expecting those same utility companies to request rate decreases now that gas prices have declined.