WEC Energy Group to increase ownership interest in three Midwest wind farms

News provided by

Feb 19, 2020, 09:00 ET

MILWAUKEE, Feb. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- WEC Energy Group (NYSE: WEC) today announced that the company has agreed to increase its ownership interest from 80% to 90% in three Midwest windfarms: Blooming Grove Wind Farm, Thunderhead Wind Energy Center and the Upstream Wind Energy Center. The total investment is $118 million for an additional 75 megawatts of capacity.

"This agreement marks another step forward for the energy infrastructure segment of our five-year capital plan," said Gale Klappa, executive chairman of WEC Energy Group. "The plan calls for deploying $1.8 billion in high-quality projects that will serve strong, vibrant companies for years to come."

Invenergy, a leading developer and operator of sustainable energy solutions, is currently building the Blooming Grove and Thunderhead projects which are expected to achieve commercial operation by the end of 2020. The Upstream Wind Energy Center, also developed by Invenergy, began service in January 2019. All three wind farms have long-term offtake agreements with affiliates of investment-grade multinational corporations.

Under the tax rules, the WEC Energy Group investment is expected to be eligible for 100% bonus depreciation and production tax credits. The transactions are subject to receiving all necessary regulatory approvals.

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 45,000 stockholders of record, 7,500 employees and $35 billion of assets.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in the statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning management's expectations and projections regarding tax impacts, investment amounts, and completion of projects. In some cases, forward-looking statements may be identified by reference to a future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "guidance," "intends," "may," "objectives," "plans," "possible," "potential," "projects," "should," "targets," "will" or similar terms or variations of these terms.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in any forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions, including business and competitive conditions in the company's service territories; timing, resolution and impact of rate cases and other regulatory decisions; the company's ability to continue to successfully integrate the operations of its subsidiaries; availability of the company's generating facilities and/or distribution systems; unanticipated changes in fuel and purchased power costs; key personnel changes; varying weather conditions; continued industry restructuring and consolidation; continued adoption of distributed generation by the company's customers; energy conservation efforts; the company's ability to successfully acquire and/or dispose of assets and projects; cyber-security threats and data security breaches; construction risks; equity and bond market fluctuations; changes in the company's and its subsidiaries' ability to access the capital markets; the impact of tax reform and any other legislative and regulatory changes, including changes to environmental standards; political developments; current and future litigation and regulatory investigations; changes in accounting standards; the financial performance of American Transmission Co. as well as projects in which the company's energy infrastructure business invests; the ability of the company to obtain additional generating capacity at competitive prices; goodwill and its possible impairment; and other factors described under the heading "Factors Affecting Results, Liquidity and Capital Resources" in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and under the headings "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information" and "Risk Factors" contained in the company's Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2018, and in subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company expressly disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information.

SOURCE WEC Energy Group