Marketplace Today Blog

By Joe Taschler
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Great Lakes Utilities, a municipal electric company with members in Clintonville, Kiel, Manitowoc, Marshfield, Medford, Rice Lake, Shawano and Wisconsin Rapids, is purchasing five hydroelectric plants on the Wisconsin River in Lake DuBay, Stevens Point, Whiting, Biron and Wisconsin Rapids.

The purchase price is about $70.4 million. The plants have a combined capacity of 35.2 megawatts, enough to meet the annual power needs of about 75,000 households.

The hydroelectric facilities are currently owned by Consolidated Water Power Co., a subsidiary of NewPage Corp., a Miamisburg, Ohio-based paper company with extensive operations in Wisconsin.

NewPage announced this week that it has signed a letter of intent to sell the facilities.

The acquisition will help the utilities meet renewable energy goals.

“While Great Lakes Utilities assessed different options for generating renewable power, including wind and biomass projects, the acquisition of the Consolidated Water Power projects provides the best option for participating members,” according to a statement that announced the deal.

The assets included in the proposed acquisition provide power to four central Wisconsin NewPage mills.

“The decision to sell these assets is expected to have little impact on these operations, as less than 10 percent of the mills’ combined required electricity demand is currently supplied by the CWPCo hydroelectric projects,” according to the statement.