In an interview with the Times Union this afternoon, an Iberdrola SA official said the company is looking to start its $2 billion wind-energy investment plan in New York state right away.
“We have the money, and we have the turbines,’‘ said Pedro Azagra (left), Iberdrola’s director of corporate development.
State regulators made Iberdrola promise to spend at least $200 million over the next two years on wind projects in the state as part of its $4.5 billion acquisition of Energy East Corp., which has 1.7 million customer accounts in upstate New York.
After the state Public Service Commission approved the deal with conditions on Sept. 3, Iberdrola finalized the acquisition on Tuesday.
Iberdrola has plans for 1,000 megawatts of new wind turbines in New York, mostly in the central and western parts of the state.
Azagra, who was appointed to the Energy East board, says it’s still too early to tell what possible changes Iberdrola will make, although he noted that in previous mergers, the company has not changed utility names, nor made major management changes.
“Our culture as a company is to be very local,” Azagra said. “We have maintained the local name (in previous mergers.)”
Azagra also noted that as Wall Street crumbles under a global credit crisis, Iberdrola is ready to spend money in the United States. Although the company is already a huge renewable energy developer in the U.S., Energy East is the first utility that it has acquired here.
“We are not shutting down things,” Azagra said in a nod to Wall Street’s woes. “We are happy to invest.”
The Times Union also asked Azagra how he was feeling now that the merger is complete. The company first announced the Energy East deal in June 2007, and the PSC process took 12 months.
“The word is tired,” Azagra said. “But I think that is what we’re paid for. We’re very enthusiastic.”
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