MILWAUKEE, June 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- WEC Energy Group
(NYSE: WEC) today announced an agreement to acquire an 80 percent
ownership interest in the Bishop Hill III Wind Energy Center
located in Henry County,
Illinois.
Bishop Hill III Wind Energy Center was developed by Invenergy
and placed into service in May 2018.
The project has a 22-year offtake agreement with WPPI Energy for
100 percent of the energy produced. WPPI Energy, based in
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is a
not-for-profit company that provides electric power to 51 member
utilities in Wisconsin,
Michigan and Iowa.
The Bishop Hill III site consists of 53 General Electric
turbines with a capacity of 132 megawatts. WEC Energy Group's
investment will total $148
million.
"This investment is a logical extension of our core business,"
said Gale Klappa, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of WEC Energy Group. "WPPI has been a
significant wholesale customer of ours for years, and we're pleased
to extend that relationship with a new, efficient renewable
facility that exists within the Midcontinent Independent System
Operator (MISO) footprint," he added.
Under the new tax rules, the WEC Energy Group investment is
expected to be eligible for 100 percent bonus depreciation and for
production tax credits. The transaction is subject to approval by
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC), based in Milwaukee, is one of the nation's premier
energy companies, serving 4.5 million customers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.
The company's principal utilities are We Energies, Wisconsin
Public Service, Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas, Michigan Gas
Utilities, Minnesota Energy Resources and Upper Michigan Energy
Resources. The company's other major subsidiary, We Power,
designs, builds and owns electric generating plants.
WEC Energy Group (wecenergygroup.com), is a
Fortune 500 company and a component of the S&P 500. The company
has approximately 50,000 stockholders of record, 8,000 employees,
and more than $31 billion of
assets.
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SOURCE WEC Energy Group