HALIFAX, June 26 /CNW/ - Irving Oil and Emera Inc. (EMA-TSX) announced today that Emera will purchase Irving Oil's interests in Bayside Power LP. Bayside Power LP is a 260 MW gas-fired combined cycle power plant located in Saint John, New Brunswick which was built in 1999. Bayside is a key supplier of energy in NB and also a supplier of energy in the US Northeast market for parts of the year.
"We look forward to our second investment in the New Brunswick energy sector," said Chris Huskilson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Emera Inc. "We have had an existing relationship with Irving Oil at this plant for a number of years and we anticipate other opportunities will result from this acquisition and our growing relationship with Irving Oil."
The Bayside plant complements Emera's operations in the region which include electricity generation, transmission and distribution, natural gas transmission and natural gas marketing.
"We're very pleased to have reached this agreement with Emera," said Kenneth Irving of Irving Oil. "This was an opportunity to deepen our relationship with Emera and facilitate additional investment by another energy player in New Brunswick. Most importantly, our agreement creates a new opportunity for our two companies to work together to explore additional energy hub investments."
The transaction is subject to the Canadian Competition Act and other regulatory approvals, which are estimated to take approximately 60 days. The transaction will be accretive to Emera within the first year.
About Emera
Emera Inc. (EMA-TSX) is an energy and services company with $5.3 billion in assets. Electricity is Emera's core business. The company has two wholly-owned regulated electric utility subsidiaries, Nova Scotia Power Inc. and Bangor Hydro-Electric Company, which together serve 600,000 customers. Emera also owns 19% of St. Lucia Electricity Services Limited, which serves more than 50,000 customers on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia and 25% of Grand Bahama Power Company which serves 19,000 customers on the Caribbean island of Grand Bahama. In addition to its electric utility investments, Emera owns the Brunswick Pipeline, a 145 km gas pipeline in New Brunswick; Emera Energy Services, a physical natural gas and power marketing and asset management business; a joint venture interest in Bear Swamp, a 600 megawatt pumped storage hydro-electric facility in northern Massachusetts; a 12.9% interest in the Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline; a 8.2% interest in Open Hydro. Visit Emera on the web at www.emera.com.
About Irving Oil
Irving Oil is the refiner and marketer serving customers in Eastern Canada and New England. The company has a history of long term relationships and partnerships, including the joint venture Canaport LNG terminal with Repsol YPF. Irving Oil operates Canada's largest refinery, in Saint John, New Brunswick, and accounts for 64% of Canada's petroleum product exports to the US and 20% of all US finished gasoline and diesel imports.
Contact: Emera - Investor Relations: Jennifer Nicholson, CA, Director Investor Relations and Strategic Development, (902) 223-0461; Emera - Media Relations: Jo-Ann Hicks, Senior Communications Advisor, Corporate Communications, (902) 223-7585; Irving Oil - Media Relations: Daniel Goodwin, Irving Oil Public Affairs, (506) 202-2433