CMP Owner Iberdrola USA Sells Gas Companies to Help Pay for MPRP

May 25, 2010 - Iberdrola USA has announced its intent to sell three natural gas companies in Southern New England. The sale will help pay the $1.4 billion price tag of the Maine Power Reliability Project, a major upgrade of the state’s electricity grid that was approved this month by the Maine Public Utilities Commission. Central Maine Power Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Iberdrola USA.

All three Iberdrola USA subsidiaries – Southern Connecticut Gas Co., Connecticut Natural Gas Corp. and Berkshire Gas Co – are being sold to UIL Holdings for approximately $1.3 billion, including the assumption of debt. Workers at those companies are represented by other labor unions, not the IBEW. UIL Holdings is the parent company of Connecticut’s United Illuminating Company.

“It’s too early to tell what impact the sale will have on our members at CMP,” IBEW 1837 Asst. Business Manager Bill Dunn said. “It is something that we plan to watch closely.”

Iberdrola plans to use the money from the sale to help pay for the construction of a new 345,000 volt line from Orrington to Eliot and add or improve some 500 miles of transmission lines. In addition, five new 345,000 volt substations will be built as part of the project. Iberdrola will borrow the rest of the money needed for the work, with the total cost eventually being borne by New England electricity ratepayers.

Besides ensuring reliability, the project is designed to provide access to new renewable forms of energy for Southern New England. A proposed connection of Northern Maine to the power grid has been shelved for the time being.