FPL Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group, Inc., announced Wednesday that it will purchase the two-unit, 1,033-megawatt Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant located near Two Rivers, Wis., from Wisconsin Electric Power Co., a subsidiary of Wisconsin Energy Corp., for $998 million.
The $998 million price tag includes $783 million for the plant and $215 million for fuel, inventory and other items.
All of the power from the Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant will be sold under a long-term contract to We Energies through the current NRC license terms of 2030 for Unit 1 and 2033 for Unit 2.
The Point Beach Nuclear Power Plant has about 660 full-time employees. FPL Energy will retain non-bargaining unit employees at Point Beach at comparable wages and benefits for 18 months following the close of the sale, and will honor all labor agreements for bargaining unit employees.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2007.
FPL Energy also announced Wednesday that it will provide two wind energy options for We Energies. The first allows We Energies to select FPL Energy to equip and construct the We Energies Blue Sky Green Field Wind Project in northeastern Fond du Lac County. The second option allows We Energies to acquire a site under development by FPL Energy in central Wisconsin. We Energies may exercise either of these options independent of the sale of Point Beach.
The addition of Point Beach will nearly double FPL Energy’s owned power generation in the Midwest. The company currently owns and operates more than 660 megawatts of wind power throughout Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Kansas, and they own a majority interest in and operate the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa.
FPL Energy also operates and owns a majority interest in the Seabrook nuclear plant in New Hampshire. FPL Group’s other subsidiary, Florida Power & Light Co., operates four nuclear units in Florida at two sites, Turkey Point and St. Lucie, representing 1,386 megawatts and 1,678 megawatts, respectively.