Exelon and Constellation Energy Further M&A Activity with Texas, Connecticut Acquisitions

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In a continuing stream of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) (Chicago, Illinois) and Constellation Energy Group Incorporated (NYSE:CEG) (Baltimore, Maryland), whose recently announced merger is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2012, announced individual natural gas-related acquisitions in Texas and Connecticut. For details of the planned merger of Exelon and Constellation, see April 29, 2011, article - Exelon, Constellation Energy Group Announce Merger.

Exelon will acquire the 720-megawatt Wolf Hollow natural gas-fired combined-cycle power near Granbury, Texas, for $305 million. The company expects to close the transaction in the third quarter of this year. The facility will be Exelon's fourth plant in Texas, joining the 1,441-MW Handley power station and 893-MW Mountain Creek power station in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, both are which are gas- or oil-fired, and the 160-MW gas-fired ExTex Peaking Plant in LaPorte.

Exelon has announced definite plans to retire approximately 652 MW of coal-fired generation capacity at facilities in Pennsylvania, which the company will replace other sources of energy, including natural gas-fired plants such as Wolf Hollow. For additional information, see April 28, 2011, article - Exelon's Nuclear Uprate Program Remains on Track.

The acquisition is not only a strategic decision in regard to Exelon's move toward a cleaner energy base (the company's Exelon 2020 business and environmental plan aims to eliminate the equivalent of its carbon footprint in 2001), but also makes financial sense. Exelon currently has a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the plant's owner, Sequent Wolf Hollow LLC, for 350 MW of the plant's output through 2023 at what a company press release states is "above currently observable market power prices." The PPA will obviously be eliminated with the purchase of the plant.

Constellation Energy Group, which is planned to merge with Exelon next year, yesterday announced its intention to acquire MXenergy Holdings Incorporated (Stamford, Connecticut). MXenergy supplies natural gas and electricity to 15 U.S. states, including California, Florida, Texas, and many states in the Great Lakes and Northeast regions in the U.S., as well as British Columbia and Ontario in Canada. The $175 million acquisition will increase Constellation's customer base by more than 500,000 residential and small commercial customers served by MXEnergy. The transaction is also expected to close in the third quarter.

Industrial Info is tracking more than $3.2 billion in active projects of Constellation and Exelon, including several planned nuclear uprate projects. As part of its cleaner-energy initiative, Exelon is currently in the planning and permitting process to add a 640-MW combined-cycle unit at its Mountain Creek Power Station near Dallas. Details of this and other projects can be found in Industrial Info's North American Power Industry Database.

View Plant Profile - 1041498 1012996
View Project Report - 01009752

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.