JUNO BEACH, Fla., and SEABROOK, N.H., April 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
FPL Group, Inc. (NYSE: FPL) announced today it has reached an agreement to buy
a majority interest in the Seabrook Nuclear Generating Station from a
consortium of owners.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20010621/FPLLOGO )
Under terms of the agreement, FPL Group, a leading U.S. electric company,
will purchase an 88.2 percent interest in Seabrook for a total of
$836.6 million, including:
Plant (including decommissioning trust fund) $749.1 million
Nuclear Fuel $61.9 million
Unit 2 Components $25.6 million
FPL Group will assume responsibility for ultimate decommissioning of the
facility and will receive the Seabrook decommissioning funds, expected to be
$232.7 million at closing including the sellers' top-off payment.
FPL Group is targeting to close the acquisition around the end of 2002 and
anticipates financing the transaction through a combination of equity and
debt. Based on current forward energy prices, the company expects the
transaction to be modestly accretive to earnings per share in 2003 and
contribute 10 to 12 cents per share on average each year over the following
three years. It expects accretion to accelerate thereafter.
Seabrook, a 1,161-megawatt pressurized water reactor that began operating
in 1990, is located on a 900-acre site in the towns of Seabrook, Hampton and
Hampton Falls in New Hampshire and about 40 miles north of Boston. It
provides approximately seven percent of the electrical power in New England.
The purchase agreement was reached through an auction process, launched in
late 2001 and supervised by the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission
(NHPUC) in coordination with the Connecticut Department of Public Utility
Control (CD PUC).
Members of the Seabrook consortium selling their interests include:
Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU), the United Illuminating Company (NYSE: UIL),
BayCorp Holdings (Amex: MWH), National Grid (NYSE: NGG; London), NSTAR
(NYSE: NST) and the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative. The remaining
interests are being retained by Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric
Company, Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant and Hudson Light & Power Department.
Lew Hay, chairman and chief executive officer of FPL Group, said: "We are
excited to become the owner of such an outstanding nuclear power plant, one of
the newest in the U.S. and one we believe to be the premier generating plant
in the Northeast.
"This acquisition supports our strategy to become a major energy provider
in the Northeast region. It is highly complementary to our current Northeast
portfolio, which includes more than 1,400 megawatts of hydro and fossil-fueled
generating plants, and a 535-megawatt gas-fired plant to be completed later
this summer. Seabrook provides additional diversity in fuel and location
within the region and will further enhance our regional portfolio. It will
provide substantial low-cost, reliable power for FPL Energy to market in
conjunction with the rest of our Northeast capacity through a series of long-
term and short-term contracts.
"Seabrook is a high-quality and safely operated plant. We are confident
that our combined team will be able to operate it at levels of safety and
operational performance comparable to our other nuclear plants," said Mr. Hay.
Seabrook Station will become a part of FPL Energy, the independent power
producer subsidiary of FPL Group. Seabrook will represent more than one-third
of FPL Energy's power generation assets in the Northeast and will increase the
subsidiary's 5,063 net-megawatts of capacity nationwide by more than 20
percent.
Ted Feigenbaum, executive vice president and chief nuclear officer for
Seabrook Station, said: "We are extremely pleased that Seabrook is being sold
to an outstanding company committed to operating a safe and successful nuclear
power program.
"The men and women of Seabrook Station have worked hard to fulfill their
commitment to become world class. FPL Group's purchase of Seabrook is clear
evidence that this hard work is highly valued by a company with an outstanding
record of operations. FPL Group's strong focus on safety, quality and
continuous improvement is a perfect environment for the Seabrook team.
"We are also very pleased that FPL Group is a company totally dedicated to
environmental stewardship and to playing a vital role as a committed good
neighbor. The men and women of Seabrook are an important part of the fabric
of life in Seacoast New Hampshire, and our neighbors will be very pleased to
see that this participation and commitment will continue under FPL Group
ownership."
"We are gratified by the way this sale was conducted," Feigenbaum said.
"We applaud the dedicated leadership and staff in the New Hampshire Public
Utilities Commission, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control, as
well as the hard work of the auction agent team from JPMorgan. We especially
appreciate the sensitivity and understanding shown by all parties for the
welfare and protection of all our Seabrook employees."
Approvals for the transaction are needed from federal and state regulatory
agencies, including public utility commissions in the owners' states as well
as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the New Hampshire Nuclear
Decommissioning Financing Committee, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
and the Department of Justice or the Federal Trade Commission.
FPL Energy has no plans to complete Seabrook Unit 2 and plans to maintain
the facility in an aesthetically improved condition.
FPL Energy will draw on the experience of the existing Seabrook nuclear
team and on the expertise of its sister subsidiary, Florida Power & Light
Company (FPL), to manage and operate Seabrook.
"FPL's nuclear division has an excellent record of operating nuclear
plants safely and reliably," said Art Stall, senior vice president of FPL's
nuclear division.
FPL's nuclear plants are similar in design to Seabrook. The company's
two-unit 1,386-megawatt Turkey Point plant is a pressurized water reactor
located 25 miles south of Miami. Its two-unit, 1,678-megawatt St. Lucie plant
is also a pressurized water reactor located near Ft. Pierce and Stuart
adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean.
Both Turkey Point and St. Lucie have consistently maintained the highest
of safety and operational performance based upon the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission's safety indicators as well as the World Association of Nuclear
Operators' overall performance index.
"Both the FPL and the Seabrook nuclear programs are focused on safety and
continuous improvement. We are looking forward to working with the Seabrook
employees in further enhancing performance," said Mr. Stall.
Under the terms of the agreement, FPL Group has agreed to all employee
protections set forth in the purchase agreement, including labor agreements
and employment for all Seabrook employees at comparable wages and benefits for
one year following the close of the sale.
"FPL Group has a long-standing commitment to community involvement and
support," said Mr. Hay. "We're eager to become a part of the New Hampshire
community."
The company pays particular attention to environmental stewardship and has
received numerous awards for its efforts. Just this month, FPL Energy's Maine
hydro operations received the Outstanding Stewardship of America's Rivers
award from the National Hydropower Association for its balance of
environmental stewardship and improved recreational usage of the Kennebec
River near the company's Harris Station. In the coming weeks, FPL Group
senior executives will be meeting with Seabrook area community leaders and
residents to begin a dialogue about the nuclear plant.
"We believe our decision to invest in New Hampshire will be welcomed by
customers, employees, the community and shareholders," said Mr. Hay.
The auction process to sell the Seabrook Station was managed by JPMorgan,
which acted as exclusive financial advisor, auction advisor and asset sale
manager to the NHPUC and the CT DPUC on this transaction. Merrill Lynch acted
as exclusive financial advisor to FPL Group on this transaction.
FPL Group, with annual revenues of more than $8 billion, is nationally
known as a high-quality, efficient, and customer-driven organization focused
on energy-related products and services. With a growing presence in more than
a dozen states, it is widely recognized as one of the country's premier power
companies. Its principal subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Company, serves
approximately 4 million customer accounts in Florida. FPL Energy, LLC, an FPL
Group energy-generating subsidiary, is a leader in producing electricity from
clean and renewable fuels and is the nation's leader in wind energy. It
operates a 5,063-megawatt portfolio of plants in 14 states. Additional
information is available on the Internet at http://www.FPLgroup.com, http://www.FPL.com and
http://www.FPLenergy.com.
Safe Harbor Statement: Any statements made herein about future operating
results or other future events are forward-looking statements under the Safe
Harbor Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Actual results may differ substantially from such forward-looking statements.
A discussion of factors that could cause actual results or events to vary is
contained in FPL Group's 2001 SEC Form 10-K.
SOURCE FPL Group, Inc.
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Company News On-Call:
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CONTACT:
FPL Group, Inc., Corporate Communications
Dept., Media Line, +1-305-552-3888; or Carol Clawson or Rachel
Scott, both of FPL Group, +1-305-552-3888; or Alan Griffith of
Seabrook Station, +1-603-773-7719; or Dena Lee DeLucca of
Electric Cooperative Inc., +1-603-536-8658; or Mike Monahan of
NSTAR, +1-617-424-2460, or +1-617-541-7888; or Kevin Moore of
United Illuminating, +1-203-499-2204; or Frank Poirot of
Northeast Utilities, +1-860-665-3409; or Anthony Callendrello of
BayCorp Holdings, +1-207-451-9573; or Jackie Barry of National
Grid, +1-508-389-3298; or Paul Dabbar of JPMorgan,
+1-212-622-2287
EDITOR'S ADVISORY: PRESS CONFERENCE ADVISORY: FPL Group and
Seabrook Station executives will hold a press conference at 10:30
a.m. Tuesday, April 16 at the Hampshire Inn on Route 107 in
Seabrook, New Hampshire. Participating in the conference will be
Lew Hay, chairman and CEO of FPL Group. The press conference
also may be accessible by calling 1-800-886-9041, code 349389.
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