COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- American Electric
Power (NYSE: AEP) and its unregulated subsidiary AEP Retail Energy
announced today that the company has reached an agreement to
acquire BlueStar Energy Holdings Inc. and its independent retail
electric supplier BlueStar Energy Solutions. The terms of the
agreement are not being disclosed.
BlueStar, based in Chicago,
provides electric supply for retail customers in Ohio, Illinois and other deregulated electricity
markets. The company also provides energy solutions, including
demand response and energy efficiency services, nationwide.
BlueStar has been in operation since 2002 and has approximately
21,000 customer accounts.
"Adding the dynamic, competitive culture and expertise of
BlueStar to our team will give us a strong platform on which to
grow our retail energy business and hedge the output of our
soon-to-be unregulated Ohio
generation," said Nicholas K. Akins,
AEP president and chief executive officer. "The retail customer
acquisition and demand-side management expertise at BlueStar,
including its proprietary information systems, will enhance our
already successful wholesale business and diversify the product
offerings available as we expand our retail customer base."
The transaction is expected to close by the end of March,
pending regulatory approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission and anti-trust review by the Department of Justice under
Hart-Scott-Rodino. BlueStar's operations will continue to be based
in Chicago and will remain focused
on providing retail electric service for residential, commercial
and industrial customers in deregulated states, as well as demand
response and energy efficiency services nationwide.
"Joining forces with an established company like AEP provides
BlueStar with the resources and support necessary to build on our
track record of profitable growth and expansion, and to continue
our mission of helping customers use less electricity and pay less
for it," said BlueStar Energy Chief Executive Officer Guy H. Morgan. "We are particularly pleased by
the excellent cultural fit that exists between our companies."
American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities
in the United States, delivering
electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP
ranks among the nation's largest generators of electricity, owning
nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also
owns the nation's largest electricity transmission system, a nearly
39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high
voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems
combined. AEP's transmission system directly or indirectly serves
about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern
Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers
38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the
electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers
much of Texas. AEP's utility units
operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West
Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky
Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power
Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east and north Texas). AEP's headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. News releases and other
information about AEP can be found at www.aep.com.
BlueStar Energy Solutions is an independent retail electricity
supplier – unaffiliated with any utility – supplying electricity to
business and residential customers. One of the fastest-growing
energy suppliers in the United
States, BlueStar provides a wide array of energy solutions
including retail electric supply and is operating in Illinois, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New
Jersey, Ohio and
Washington, D.C. BlueStar also
provides energy demand-side management solutions nationwide. For
more information visit www.bluestarenergy.com.
This report made by American Electric Power contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Although AEP believes that its
expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such
statements may be influenced by factors that could cause actual
outcomes and results to be materially different from those
projected. Among the factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are:
Electric load and customer growth; weather conditions, including
storms; available sources and costs of, and transportation for,
fuels and the creditworthiness of fuel suppliers and transporters;
availability of generating capacity and the performance of AEP's
generating plants; the ability to recover regulatory assets and
stranded costs in connection with deregulation; the ability to
recover increases in fuel and other energy costs through regulated
or competitive electric rates; the ability to build or acquire
generating capacity when needed at acceptable prices and terms and
to recover those costs through applicable rate cases; new
legislation, litigation and government regulation, including
requirements for reduced emissions of sulfur, nitrogen, mercury,
carbon and other substances; timing and resolution of pending and
future rate cases, negotiations and other regulatory decisions
(including rate or other recovery for new investments, transmission
service and environmental compliance); resolution of litigation
(including pending Clean Air Act enforcement actions and disputes
arising from the bankruptcy of Enron Corp.); AEP's ability to
constrain its operation and maintenance costs; AEP's ability to
sell assets at acceptable prices and on other acceptable terms,
including rights to share in earnings derived from the assets
subsequent to their sale; the economic climate and growth in its
service territory and changes in market demand and demographic
patterns; inflationary trends; its ability to develop and execute a
strategy based on a view regarding prices of electricity, natural
gas and other energy-related commodities; changes in the
creditworthiness and number of participants in the energy trading
market; changes in the financial markets, particularly those
affecting the availability of capital and AEP's ability to
refinance existing debt at attractive rates; actions of rating
agencies, including changes in the ratings of debt; volatility and
changes in markets for electricity, natural gas and other
energy-related commodities; changes in utility regulation,
including membership and integration into regional transmission
structures; accounting pronouncements periodically issued by
accounting standard-setting bodies; the performance of AEP's
pension and other postretirement benefit plans; prices for power
that AEP generates and sells at wholesale; changes in technology,
particularly with respect to new, developing or alternative sources
of generation; and other risks and unforeseen events, including
wars, the effects of terrorism (including increased security
costs), embargoes and other catastrophic events.
SOURCE American Electric Power