ALLETE To Sell Portion Of Stake Ownership In Planned NTEC To Basin Electric For $20 Mln

(RTTNews) - ALLETE, Inc. (ALE), an energy provider, on Tuesday, said it is selling a portion of its ownership stake in the planned Nemadji Trail Energy Center (NTEC) to Basin Electric Power Cooperative for about $20 million. North Dakota-based Basin Electric is expected to become a 30 percent owner in the facility through its wholly owned subsidiary Nemadji River Generation LLC, while the Duluth-headquartered ALLETE is expected to retain a 20 percent ownership stake in the NTEC project through its subsidiary South Shore Energy LLC, with an expected total investment of around $140 million.

Dairyland Power Cooperative will remain a 50 percent stake owner of the planned site, ALLETE said in a statement.

NTEC is a proposed combined-cycle, natural gas power plant to be built in Superior, Wisconsin, and is expected to be capable of delivering approximately 600 megawatts.

"The sale to Basin Electric does not change the size of the NTEC project or its anticipated economic impact as the single-largest private investment in Douglas County history," ALLETE added.

With Basin Electric joining the project, ALLETE's utility division Minnesota Power expects to contract for a lower amount of NTEC's energy and, as part of its Energy Forward strategy to transition away from coal fired generation, it is expected to pursue investment in additional clean-energy technology.

Minnesota Power will continue as constructor and operator of the plant. Dairyland Power and Basin Electric will utilize the remaining capacity of NTEC's generation to serve their cooperative members.