Dive Brief:
- Duke Energy Progress is nearing approval in North Carolina to purchase the generating assets managed by the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency’s (NCEMPA), the Larinburg Exchange reports. On Thursday the State Senate passed a bill to authorize the deal, and the proposal is expected to come up in the House early next week.
- Last year Duke announced a plan to purchase the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency’s (NCEMPA) generating assets in a deal valued at more than $1 billion. The public power agency holds partial ownership of a number of Duke Progress Energy plants in the state.
- The deal is expected to lower costs and reduce the power bills of residents in the Electricities NCEMPA region, which consists of 32 cities and towns in eastern North Carolina.
Dive Insight:
The North Carolina Senate passed a measure Thursday. authorizing Duke to purchase the NCEMPA generating assets, and a similar bill being considered in the House. Federal regulators approved the deal in December.
“The word I’m hearing is that the governor wants this bill signed into law before the Easter break,” state Rep. Garland Pearce (D) told the Larinburg Exchange.
Announced in July 2014, the $1.2 billion deal includes NCEMPA's ownership interest in the plants, fuel inventories, and spare parts inventory, subject to certain adjustments. NCEMPA maintains partial ownership interest in several Duke Energy Progress plants, including Brunswick Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2 (Brunswick County), Mayo Plant (Person County), Roxboro Plant Unit 4 (Person County) and the Harris Nuclear Plant (Wake County).
The power agency's ownership interest in these plants represents approximately 700 MW of generating capacity, Duke says. As part of FERC's approval, regulators required Duke Energy Progress to enter into a 30-year wholesale power supply agreement with NCEMPA to continue meeting the needs of NCEMPA customers.
Duke and NCEMPA are hoping to close the deal by the end of the year.