By Rich Heidorn Jr.
Companies in the RTO Insider Top 30 reported revenues of more than $75 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, a 7% increase over a year earlier, as all but five companies saw topline growth.
FirstEnergy, Public Service Enterprise Group, NextEra Energy and NRG Energy all reported revenue drops in the fourth quarter while Consolidated Edison was flat.
Similarly, all but five companies were profitable in the quarter. The exceptions were FirstEnergy (a $5.8 billion loss) Entergy ($1.8 billion), NRG ($987 million), Duke Energy ($222 million) and PSEG ($98 million). But the losses were so large they swamped their peers’ earnings, resulting in a cumulative loss of $2.62 billion for the quarter.
FirstEnergy reported a loss of $6.2 billion for the entire year, largely because of asset impairment and plant exit costs related to its decision to leave competitive generation by mid-2018. The company is seeking subsidies for its Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants in Ohio to make them attractive to buyers. (See FirstEnergy Seeking ZECs to Aid Sale of Ohio Nukes.)
Despite the fourth-quarter loss, Entergy, which also is exiting merchant nuclear generation, earned $1.27 billion for the year ($7.11/share), beating Zacks’ consensus estimate of $6.83/share. (See Entergy Beats Expectations Despite 80% Drop in Earnings.)
Avangrid’s 29% jump in Q4 revenues and more than doubling of net income reflected the first full year of operations including UIL Holdings, which it acquired in December 2015.
Edison International earned $377 million in the fourth quarter, versus a $50 million loss a year earlier. In February, its Southern California Edison unit joined with other investor-owned utilities in proposing spending $1 billion on transportation electrification. SoCalEd plans to spend $573 million, including pilot projects for electric transit buses and electrification of cargo handling equipment at the Port of Long Beach.
Edison CEO Pedro Pizarro said the company has “scaled back business development” at Edison Transmission because of “limited FERC Order 1000 opportunities in our target markets.” The company will continue its role in the Grid Assurance initiative to pool inventory and develop best practices to support transmission system reliability.
Dominion earned $457 million for the fourth quarter, a 28% jump, thanks to its acquisition of Questar, which added 56 Bcf of gas storage and 3,400 miles of gas transmission to its assets. Due in part to the acquisition, the company announced last month it was rebranding and replacing “Resources” with “Energy” in its name. The company now does business in 18 states. (See Dominion Resources Changing Name to Dominion Energy.)
The company could see a boost to earnings if Connecticut lawmakers approve legislation providing additional revenues for its Millstone nuclear plant. (See related story, Connecticut Moves Closer to Equating Nuclear with Renewables.)
| Company | Market Cap ($ billions) | Revenue Q4 2016 ($ billions) | % change vs. 2015 | Net income Q4 2016 ($ millions) | % change vs. 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NRG Energy | $3.87 | $2.53 | -16% | ($987.00) | NA |
| NextEra Energy | $55.91 | $3.70 | -9% | $966.00 | 91% |
| Public Service Enterprise Group | $22.15 | $2.09 | -8% | ($98.00) | NA |
| FirstEnergy | $13.70 | $3.38 | -5% | ($5,796.00) | NA |
| Consolidated Edison | $21.63 | $2.71 | 0% | $206.00 | 17% |
| Berkshire Hathaway Energy | NA | $4.17 | 1% | $483.00 | 1% |
| Pinnacle West Capital | $8.66 | $0.74 | 1% | $53.25 | 29% |
| Great Plains Energy | $5.89 | $0.58 | 2% | $98.00 | 328% |
| PPL | $23.14 | $1.83 | 3% | $465.00 | 17% |
| Ameren | $12.73 | $1.36 | 4% | $32.00 | 10% |
| American Electric Power | $30.96 | $3.79 | 5% | $373.40 | -20% |
| Eversource Energy | $18.65 | $1.78 | 5% | $231.10 | 26% |
| Entergy | $13.11 | $2.65 | 6% | ($1,765.54) | NA |
| Xcel Energy | $20.64 | $2.79 | 6% | $227.48 | 9% |
| WEC Energy Group | $18.51 | $1.96 | 6% | $194.70 | 8% |
| Alliant Energy | $8.63 | $0.80 | 8% | $65.20 | 78% |
| Sempra Energy | $25.18 | $2.91 | 8% | $379.00 | 3% |
| CMS Energy | $11.62 | $1.64 | 9% | $77.00 | -27% |
| Calpine | $4.10 | $1.58 | 10% | $24.00 | NA |
| Westar Energy | $7.99 | $0.61 | 11% | $53.94 | 37% |
| PG&E | $33.86 | $4.71 | 13% | $696.00 | 404% |
| Duke Energy | $54.33 | $4.82 | 14% | ($227.00) | NA |
| DTE Energy | $17.68 | $2.87 | 16% | $131.00 | 64% |
| Centerpoint Energy | $10.61 | $2.08 | 16% | $101.00 | NA |
| Exelon | $32.79 | $7.87 | 18% | $204.00 | -34% |
| Nisource Inc | $7.15 | $1.30 | 18% | $88.80 | 49% |
| OGE Energy | $6.68 | $0.53 | 19% | $57.90 | 97% |
| Dominion Energy | $48.10 | $3.09 | 21% | $457.00 | 28% |
| Edison International | $23.46 | $2.88 | 23% | $377.00 | NA |
| Avangrid | $11.70 | $1.49 | 29% | $207.00 | 116% |
| Total | $75.23 | 7% | $(2,625) | -35% |
NOTE: No % change is listed for net income if either the current quarter or previous year was a loss.
