Lightstone Generation has acquired four power plants, with combined capacity of approximately 5,200MW, from US based utility American Electric Power (AEP) for approximately $2.17bn.
Lightstone Generation is a joint venture between private-equity firms Blackstone and ArcLight Capital Partners.
The power generation assets considered for sale are located in the region served by the PJM Interconnection, a regional transmission organization in the US.
As per the deal signed in September 2016, Lightstone acquired power plants including 1,186MW gas-fired power plant in Lawrenceburg, Indiana; 840MW Waterford Energy Center in Waterford, Ohio; 507MW Darby gas-fired power plant in Mount Sterling, Ohio; and 2,665MW Gen. James M. Gavin coal-fired power plant in Cheshire, Ohio.
The sale is part of AEP’s efforts to shift its focus from wholesale power markets to regulated utilities, reported Wall Street Journal earlier.
Proceeds from the sale will be used by AEP for its regulated businesses, including transmission and contracted renewable projects.
AEP chairman, president and CEO Nicholas Akins earlier said: “AEP’s long-term strategy has been to become a fully regulated, premium energy company focused on investment in infrastructure and the energy innovations that our customers want and need.
“This transaction advances that strategy and reduces some of the business risks associated with operating competitive generating assets.”
In November, the firm announced its plans to invest approximately $17.3bn in its core regulated operations and contracted renewable over the period 2017 to 2019.
Image: AEP headquarters in Columbus, Ohio, US. Photo: courtesy of Tysto/Wikipedia.