Capital spending to comply with the Obama administration’s environmental regulations is dinging the credit outlook for Alliant Energy, parent company of Wisconsin Power and Light and Interstate Power and Light in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Moody’s Investors Service has changed its outlook for Alliant to negative from stable. “The negative outlook on the Alliant family’s ratings reflects financial metrics that are weak for their ratings and likely to deteriorate over the next few years as its utility subsidiaries incur incremental debt to finance their extensive, multi-year capital expenditure plans,” analyst Lesley Ritter said. If trends continue, Moody’s said, Alliant’s A3 senior secured rating “would likely be more appropriately reflected in a Baa1 rating.”
Since 2011 Alliant has invested $1 billion in environmental retrofits and is projected to spend up to $1.8 billion more to build gas-fired generating units to replace aging coal and gas units.
More: Moody’s
DTE Plans Solar Facility for Ypsilanti
DTE Energy is planning to build a 2,800-panel solar farm in Ypsilanti, Mich., by the end of next year. The 800-kW facility would power about 150 homes.
DTE says it’s the largest solar developer in Michigan, with 10 MW from 22 sites in the southeast part of the state. The utility said it has now met a state-mandated renewable portfolio standard.
The company did not release the estimated cost of the Ypsilanti project.
More: Zacks Equity Research
Duke Energy’s South Carolina Transmission Project Draws Angry Opponents
A Duke Energy proposal to build a 45-mile transmission line and a new substation in South Carolina to serve growing demand in western North Carolina drew about 800 people to a public hearing.
Most of the speakers at the South Carolina Public Service Commission’s hearing oppose the project. Their objections include the line’s location, the technique or type of transmission line or the very fact of its planned existence.
Bill Mills of Caroland Farms in South Carolina said he has studied all of the options and concluded that “the best solution for the Carolinas is to have this project canceled.”
More: Charlotte Business Journal
Philadelphia Businessmen Buy Retired Exelon Plant for Hotel Project
Two Philadelphia businessmen, operating under the moniker Delaware Station LLC, have put down $3 million for the old Delaware Generating Station, formerly operated by Philadelphia Electric Co. They hope to convert the 16-acre property on the Delaware River to one or more hotels, as well as a shopping and catering complex.
Joseph Volpe and Bart Blatstein are the listed owners. Although there remain some small gas-fired turbines on the site, the main generating equipment at the station was retired decades ago.
More: The Philadephia Inquirer
FirstEnergy Starts Demolishing Cleveland’s Lake Shore Plant
FirstEnergy has begun tearing down its retired Lake Shore Generating Station in Cleveland, a process that is expected to take about 16 months. The first steps are a full site survey and the demolition of several smaller outbuildings.
The former coal-fired power plant went into service in 1911 and was officially retired earlier this year. FirstEnergy plans to retain the property for alternative uses, a company spokeswoman said. While all generating equipment will be removed, some transmission equipment will remain on the site.
More: Crain’s Cleveland Business
BP Repairs, Restarts Indiana Refinery
BP restarted a crude distillation unit at its giant Indiana refinery near Chicago last week, a move that is expected to put the brakes on spiking gasoline prices in the Midwest.
The unit at the Whiting, Ind., refinery was shut down Aug. 8 for repairs, which took longer than expected. The extended outage of the 413,500-barrel-per-day refinery, BP’s largest in America, caused fuel shortages that sent pump prices skyward.
More: Associated Press
Dominion Resources Settles Pump Dispute
Dominion Resources, owner of Millstone Station nuclear plant, has reached a settlement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its decision to halt the use of a safety-related pump in the event of a severe accident.
NRC on Thursday cited a “willful violation” for changes Dominion made without regulatory approval at its Millstone Unit 2 plant in Waterford, Conn. A Millstone spokesman said Dominion does not agree that the violation was deliberate.
Dominion agreed to change plant procedures governing the operation and testing of the charging pumps and provide complete and accurate information. Regulators said they became aware in September 2011 that Dominion submitted requests for approval of changes to the Unit 2 operating license that were incomplete and inaccurate.
More: Associated Press