New Orleans, La. - Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) announced that its
subsidiary, Entergy Louisiana, LLC (ELL), has signed a Purchase and Sale
Agreement (PSA) to acquire Unit 2 of the Acadia Energy Center, a 580-megawatt
generating unit located near Eunice, Louisiana, from Acadia Power Partners, LLC
(APP), an independent power producer.
“The acquisition of a modern, highly efficient load-following generation
resource such as Acadia Unit 2 will help meet the electricity needs of our
utilities’ customers while lowering fuel costs,” said J. Wayne Leonard,
Entergy’s chairman and chief executive officer. “This transaction is
well-aligned with our disciplined, market point of view for capital deployment.
In addition, the facility’s location in southern Louisiana has substantial
reliability benefits for the system and our customers.”
The Acadia Energy Center, which entered commercial service in 2002, consists
of two Siemens-Westinghouse combined-cycle gas-fired generating units, each
nominally rated at 580 MW. ELL proposes to acquire 100 percent of Acadia Unit 2
and a 50 percent ownership interest in the facility’s common assets. In a
separate transaction entered into earlier this year, Cleco Power is acquiring
Acadia Unit 1 and the other 50 percent interest in the facility’s common assets.
Upon closing the transaction, Cleco Power will serve as operator for the entire
facility. ELL has committed to sell one third of the output of Unit 2 to Entergy
Gulf States Louisiana in accordance with terms and conditions detailed under the
existing System Agreement.
ELL’s purchase is contingent upon, among other things, obtaining necessary
approvals, including full cost recovery, from various federal and state
regulatory and permitting agencies and the filing of notification under the
Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust law. Closing is expected to occur in late 2010 or
early 2011. ELL and APP also have entered into a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
for 100 percent of the output of Acadia Unit 2 that will commence on May 1, 2010
and is set to expire at the closing of the acquisition transaction.
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in
electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and
operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating
capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States.
Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $13
billion and approximately 14,700 employees.
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Entergy’s online address is
www.entergy.com
In this news release, and from time to time, Entergy Corporation makes
certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Except to the extent required by the
federal securities laws, Entergy undertakes no obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events, or otherwise.
Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
There are factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including (a)
those factors discussed in (i) Entergy’s Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2008, (ii) Entergy’s Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31 and June 30,
2009, and (iii) Entergy’s other reports and filings made under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, (b) the uncertainties associated with efforts to remediate
the effects of Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and the January 2009 Arkansas ice storm
and recovery of costs associated with restoration, and (c) the following
transactional factors (in addition to others described elsewhere in this news
release and in subsequent securities filings): (i) risks inherent in the
contemplated spin-off, joint venture and related transactions (including the
level of debt to be incurred by Enexus Energy Corporation and the terms and
costs related thereto), (ii) legislative and regulatory actions, and (iii)
conditions of the capital markets during the periods covered by the
forward-looking statements. Entergy cannot provide any assurances that the
spin-off or any of the proposed transactions related thereto will be completed,
nor can it give assurances as to the terms on which such transactions will be
consummated. The transaction is subject to certain conditions precedent,
including regulatory approvals and the final approval by the Board of Directors
of Entergy.