Dominion Closes on Acquisition of Kewaunee
Power Station
RICHMOND, Va. – Dominion (NYSE: D), one of the nation’s
largest energy producers, closed Tuesday on its purchase of the Kewaunee Nuclear
Power Plant in northeastern Wisconsin.
Upon close, the 568-megawatt facility will be known as Kewaunee
Power Station. The unit’s net summer capability was uprated from 545
megawatts between the November 2003 sale announcement and financial closing.
Dominion purchased the station from Wisconsin Public Service
Corporation, a subsidiary of WPS Resources Corporation (NYSE: WPS), and Wisconsin
Power and Light Company, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy (NYSE: LNT). Dominion
has agreed to return to WPS and WPL customers any unused funds after decommissioning.
Dominion expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive.
"Our purchase of Kewaunee is a win-win for station employees,
Wisconsin customers, the local community and shareholders," said Thos.
E. Capps, chairman and chief executive officer. "The regulatory approval
process by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin was diligent and thorough.
By adding new nuclear capacity already under a power sales contract, we're capitalizing
on our strong, safe nuclear operating experience and broadening the fuel diversity
of our power generation fleet."
Dominion has signed a power purchase agreement for 100 percent
of the facility’s output with the previous owners, 59 percent to WPS and
41 percent to WP&L. The acquisition was also approved by the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and four other
state commissions.
"This addition expands our generation portfolio in a
region that stretches from Lake Michigan to the Atlantic Ocean and represents
the world's third largest economy," Capps said. "We welcome Kewaunee's
dedicated and professional workforce into the Dominion family and look forward
to being an active corporate citizen in Wisconsin."
Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy,
with an energy portfolio of about 28,700 megawatts of generation, about 6 trillion
cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves and 7,900 miles of natural
gas transmission pipeline. Dominion also operates the nation's largest underground
natural gas storage system with more than 960 billion cubic feet of storage
capacity and serves retail energy customers in nine states. For more information
about Dominion, visit the company's Web site at www.dom.com.
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This release contains forward-looking statements, including
our expectation that the acquisition of Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant will be
immediately accretive, that are subject to various risks and uncertainties.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from management's
projections, forecasts, estimates and expectations include, changes in capital
market conditions affecting our financing of the acquisition, and changes in
our projected future capital expenditures, including environmental expenditures.
Other risks include those that affect Dominion generally, including those that
are detailed from time to time in our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q
filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
