JUNO BEACH, Fla. and
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa, July 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- NextEra Energy
Resources, LLC through its affiliates (NextEra Energy Resources)
and Alliant Energy's Iowa energy
company have agreed to shorten the term of their existing power
purchase agreement (PPA) for the output from the Duane Arnold
Energy Center (DAEC) by five years in exchange for a buyout
payment. The companies' new agreements also include new repowered
wind PPAs. These transactions will save Alliant Energy's
Iowa customers nearly $300 million in energy costs, on a net present
value basis, over 21 years. Assuming all requisite approvals are
received, the DAEC is expected to cease commercial operations in
late 2020.
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"The Duane Arnold Energy Center has provided reliable energy to
Alliant Energy's Iowa customers
for decades," said Patricia
Kampling, chairman and CEO of Alliant Energy. "Partially
replacing energy from Duane Arnold
with NextEra's additional wind investments in Iowa will bring significant economic benefits
to our customers."
"The eventual closing of the Duane Arnold Energy Center is a
difficult decision because of the approximately 500 highly skilled
men and women who consistently have made it one of the
top-performing nuclear facilities in the country," said
Armando Pimentel, president and CEO
of NextEra Energy Resources. "You have our assurance that we
will continue to practice our corporate values of doing the right
thing by our colleagues and treating them with the respect they
have earned and deserve. We are committed to minimizing any impact
today's announcement may have on them, their families and the
community they call home. Importantly, as we proceed into the next
decade, several hundred jobs will remain at the plant for a number
of years as a result of what will be a lengthy decommissioning
process, along with the creation of new jobs through our continued
investment in Iowa."
Alliant Energy has agreed to make a $110
million buyout payment to NextEra Energy Resources in
September 2020 to cover the cost to
shorten the term of the DAEC PPA from 2025 to 2020. Alliant Energy
intends to apply to the Iowa Utilities Board today (July 27) for approval regarding recovery of the
buyout payment. Alliant Energy's Iowa customers are expected to save nearly
$300 million, on a net present value
basis, starting on or before Jan. 1,
2021, contingent on the Iowa Utilities Board's approval of
Alliant Energy's request. The savings estimate includes the cost of
the amendment payment and the costs for replacing energy and
capacity.
Under the agreements, NextEra Energy Resources will supply wind
energy from four repowered Iowa
wind facilities, representing approximately 340 megawatts of clean,
emissions-free electricity for Alliant Energy's Iowa customers.
Continuing its commitment to the state of Iowa, NextEra Energy Resources plans to invest
approximately $650 million in
existing and new renewables generation across the state by the end
of 2020, including the planned approximately $250 million to repower the four wind facilities
as part of these transactions. Repowering these facilities is
expected to create 200 new construction jobs during the process, as
well as extend payments to landowners and tax revenues for local
communities for decades. NextEra Energy Resources also is
evaluating redevelopment opportunities at the DAEC site, including
the construction of new solar energy, battery storage or natural
gas facilities.
NextEra Energy Resources expects a gradual reduction in staffing
at the DAEC over the next seven years as the decommissioning
process takes place. To support DAEC employees during the
transition, NextEra Energy Resources has developed a comprehensive
employee plan that includes an enhanced retirement program for
eligible employees, placement in other jobs throughout the company,
and job retraining, outplacement services and severance packages,
where applicable. NextEra Energy Resources also is partnering with
Alliant Energy and other companies in the energy industry to
identify opportunities for DAEC employees.
At the appropriate time, the Midcontinent Independent System
Operator and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be notified of
the intent to permanently cease operations and decommission the
DAEC.
About Alliant Energy
Alliant Energy Corporation's
Iowa utility subsidiary,
Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), utilizes the trade name
of Alliant Energy. The Iowa
utility is based in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, and provides electric service to 490,000 retail
customers and natural gas service to 220,000 retail customers. The
employees of Alliant Energy focus on delivering the energy
solutions and exceptional service their customers and communities
expect – safely, efficiently and responsibly. Alliant Energy
Corporation is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: LNT)
and is a component of the S&P 500. For more information, visit
alliantenergy.com.
NextEra Energy Resources
NextEra Energy Resources, LLC
(together with its affiliated entities, "NextEra Energy
Resources"), is a clean energy leader and is one of the largest
wholesale generators of electric power in the U.S., with more than
19,000 megawatts of net generating capacity, primarily in 32 states
and Canada as of year-end 2017.
NextEra Energy Resources, together with its affiliated entities, is
the world's largest operator of renewable energy from the wind and
sun. The business operates clean, emissions-free nuclear power
generation facilities in New
Hampshire, Iowa and
Wisconsin as part of the NextEra
Energy nuclear fleet, which is one of the largest in the United States. NextEra Energy Resources,
LLC is a subsidiary of Juno Beach,
Florida-based NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE). For more
information, visit www.NextEraEnergyResources.com.
NextEra Energy Cautionary Statements and Risk
Factors That May Affect Future Results
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
not statements of historical facts, but instead represent the
current expectations of NextEra Energy, Inc. (together with its
subsidiaries, NextEra Energy) regarding future operating results
and other future events, many of which, by their nature, are
inherently uncertain and outside of NextEra Energy's
control. In some cases, you can identify the
forward-looking statements by words or phrases such as "will," "may
result," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "intend," "plan,"
"seek," "potential," "projection," "forecast," "predict," "goals,"
"target," "outlook," "should," "would" or similar words or
expressions. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future
performance. The future results of NextEra Energy and its
business and financial condition are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements,
or may require it to limit or eliminate certain operations.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the
following: effects of extensive regulation of NextEra
Energy's business operations; inability of NextEra Energy to
recover in a timely manner any significant amount of costs, a
return on certain assets or a reasonable return on invested capital
through base rates, cost recovery clauses, other regulatory
mechanisms or otherwise; impact of political, regulatory and
economic factors on regulatory decisions important to NextEra
Energy; disallowance of cost recovery based on a finding of
imprudent use of derivative instruments; effect of any reductions
or modifications to, or elimination of, governmental incentives or
policies that support utility scale renewable energy projects or
the imposition of additional tax laws, policies or assessments on
renewable energy; impact of new or revised laws, regulations,
interpretations or other regulatory initiatives on NextEra Energy;
capital expenditures, increased operating costs and various
liabilities attributable to environmental laws, regulations and
other standards applicable to NextEra Energy; effects on NextEra
Energy of federal or state laws or regulations mandating new or
additional limits on the production of greenhouse gas emissions;
exposure of NextEra Energy to significant and increasing compliance
costs and substantial monetary penalties and other sanctions as a
result of extensive federal regulation of its operations and
businesses; effect on NextEra Energy of changes in tax laws,
guidance or policies as well as in judgments and estimates used to
determine tax-related asset and liability amounts; impact on
NextEra Energy of adverse results of litigation; effect on NextEra
Energy of failure to proceed with projects under development or
inability to complete the construction of (or capital improvements
to) electric generation, transmission and distribution facilities,
gas infrastructure facilities or other facilities on schedule or
within budget; impact on development and operating activities of
NextEra Energy resulting from risks related to project siting,
financing, construction, permitting, governmental approvals and the
negotiation of project development agreements; risks involved in
the operation and maintenance of electric generation, transmission
and distribution facilities, gas infrastructure facilities and
other facilities; effect on NextEra Energy of a lack of growth or
slower growth in the number of customers or in customer usage;
impact on NextEra Energy of severe weather and other weather
conditions; threats of terrorism and catastrophic events that could
result from terrorism, cyber attacks or other attempts to disrupt
NextEra Energy's business or the businesses of third parties;
inability to obtain adequate insurance coverage for protection of
NextEra Energy against significant losses and risk that insurance
coverage does not provide protection against all significant
losses; a prolonged period of low gas and oil prices could impact
NextEra Energy's gas infrastructure business and cause NextEra
Energy to delay or cancel certain gas infrastructure projects and
for certain existing projects to be impaired; risk of increased
operating costs resulting from unfavorable supply costs necessary
to provide full energy and capacity requirement services; inability
or failure to manage properly or hedge effectively the commodity
risk within its portfolio; effect of reductions in the liquidity of
energy markets on NextEra Energy's ability to manage operational
risks; effectiveness of NextEra Energy's risk management tools
associated with its hedging and trading procedures to protect
against significant losses, including the effect of unforeseen
price variances from historical behavior; impact of unavailability
or disruption of power transmission or commodity transportation
facilities on sale and delivery of power or natural gas; exposure
of NextEra Energy to credit and performance risk from customers,
hedging counterparties and vendors; failure of counterparties to
perform under derivative contracts or of requirement for NextEra
Energy to post margin cash collateral under derivative contracts;
failure or breach of NextEra Energy's information technology
systems; risks to NextEra Energy's retail businesses from
compromise of sensitive customer data; losses from volatility in
the market values of derivative instruments and limited liquidity
in OTC markets; impact of negative publicity; inability to
maintain, negotiate or renegotiate acceptable franchise agreements;
occurrence of work strikes or stoppages and increasing personnel
costs; NextEra Energy's ability to successfully identify, complete
and integrate acquisitions, including the effect of increased
competition for acquisitions; environmental, health and financial
risks associated with ownership and operation of nuclear generation
facilities; liability of NextEra Energy for significant
retrospective assessments and/or retrospective insurance premiums
in the event of an incident at certain nuclear generation
facilities; increased operating and capital expenditures and/or
result in reduced revenues at nuclear generation facilities
resulting from orders or new regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission; inability to operate any owned nuclear generation units
through the end of their respective operating licenses; effect of
disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital
markets on NextEra Energy's ability to fund its liquidity and
capital needs and meet its growth objectives; inability to maintain
current credit ratings; impairment of liquidity from inability of
credit providers to fund their credit commitments or to maintain
their current credit ratings; poor market performance and other
economic factors that could affect NextEra Energy's defined benefit
pension plan's funded status; poor market performance and other
risks to the asset values of nuclear decommissioning funds; changes
in market value and other risks to certain of NextEra Energy's
investments; effect of inability of NextEra Energy subsidiaries to
pay upstream dividends or repay funds to NextEra Energy or of
NextEra Energy's performance under guarantees of subsidiary
obligations on NextEra Energy's ability to meet its financial
obligations and to pay dividends on its common stock; the fact that
the amount and timing of dividends payable on NextEra Energy's
common stock, as well as the dividend policy approved by NextEra
Energy's board of directors from time to time, and changes to that
policy, are within the sole discretion of NextEra Energy's board of
directors and, if declared and paid, dividends may be in amounts
that are less than might be expected by shareholders; NEP's
inability to access sources of capital on commercially reasonable
terms could have an effect on its ability to consummate future
acquisitions and on the value of NextEra Energy's limited partner
interest in NextEra Energy Operating Partners, LP; and effects of
disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit and capital
markets on the market price of NextEra Energy's common stock.
NextEra Energy discusses these and other risks and uncertainties in
its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and other SEC filings, and this
news release should be read in conjunction with such SEC filings
made through the date of this news release. The
forward-looking statements made in this news release are made only
as of the date of this news release and NextEra Energy undertakes
no obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
Alliant Energy Cautionary Statements and Risk
Factors That May Affect Future Results
This press release includes forward-looking statements which
represent the current expectations of Alliant Energy Corporation
(together with its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company)
regarding future operating results and other future events, many of
which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of
Alliant Energy's control. These forward-looking statements can be
identified because they describe regulatory approvals and future
agreed-to actions. These forward-looking statements can be
identified because they include words such as "intends,"
"expected," "estimate," "will," or words of similar nature. Such
statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
currently anticipated. Actual results could be affected by such
factors as: state regulatory actions which delay, prevent or alter
the proposed plans, including rate recovery levels and returns on
equity; the inability to obtain all necessary approvals; increased
costs; current or future litigation, regulatory investigations,
proceedings or inquiries that could impede the implementation of
Alliant Energy's plans; political conditions in Alliant Energy's
service territories; changes to Alliant Energy's access to capital
markets; and economic conditions in Alliant Energy's service
territory. These factors should be considered when evaluating the
forward-looking statements and undue reliance should not be placed
on such statements. The forward-looking statements included herein
are made as of the date hereof and Alliant Energy and Interstate
Power and Light Company undertake no obligation to update publicly
such statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
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SOURCE NextEra Energy Resources; Alliant Energy