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Bloomberg
American Electric Power is planning to sell some or all of its renewable energy portfolio in order to focus on its core utility business.
“This move will simplify and de-risk the company while allowing us to redeploy capital to our regulated businesses, where we see a meaningful pipeline of investment opportunities to enhance service for customers across our footprint,†AEP said in its fourth-quarter earnings report.
Subsidiary AEP Renewables owns four solar farms and 10 wind farms, with another under construction, across the US that could be sold, according to the Columbus, Ohio-based utility owner. Those assets combined generate about 1.6 gigawatts of power. The wind farm portfolio could fetch an average sale price of $1.3 billion and the solar farms could be sold for an average of $132 million, according to data from BloombergNEF.
Wind and solar farms are gaining appeal with many companies and investors drawn to less polluting energy alternatives to fossil fuels as US President Joe Biden pushes for a pollution-free electric grid by 2035. AEP’s move is also the latest example of a big power company selling off non-core assets to focus on its key regulated businesses.
AEP shares rose 1.6% to $85.95 in New York, its biggest intraday increase in about three weeks.