Growth-Starved Utilities Have Found a New Way to Make Money
- AEP seeking permission to invest $4.5 billion in wind power
- Utilities now looking to own renewable energy assets outright
A wind turbine stand on property used by the Alliant Energy Corp. Whispering Willow Wind Farm in Iowa Falls, Iowa, U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016. Wind energy, the fastest-growing source of electricity in the U.S., is transforming low-income rural areas in ways not seen since the federal government gave land to homesteaders 150 years ago.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThere’s a new model emerging for growth-starved utilities looking to profit from America’s solar and wind power boom.
American Electric Power Co. is using it for a $4.5 billion deal that’ll land the U.S. utility owner a massive wind farm in Oklahoma and a high-voltage transmission line to deliver the power. NextEra Energy Inc.’s Florida unit is using it to build solar farms. And in April, the chief executive officer of Xcel Energy Inc. said he’d use it to help add 3.4 gigawatts of new wind energy over the next five years.