Eversource Energy (NYSE:ES) today announced that it has completed the sale of its 50 percent ownership share in the 924-megawatt Sunrise Wind project (Sunrise Wind) to Ørsted. Gross proceeds of the transaction are $230 million, subject to spending adjustments between signing and closing, with 50% due at closing and the remaining balance paid upon the achievement of certain construction milestones.
On January 24, 2024, Eversource Energy (Eversource) announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its 50 percent interest in Sunrise Wind to Ørsted, contingent on – among other things – the project's successful award under the fourth New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) solicitation for Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificates. Sunrise Wind was subsequently awarded a contract by NYSERDA, which was finalized and completed on May 31, 2024. In June 2024 the sale was approved by both the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the New York State Public Service Commission.
With the completion of the sale, Eversource has now divested all of its ownership interests in Sunrise Wind and will have no ongoing financial obligations associated with the project costs of Sunrise Wind.
Eversource has entered into a separate amended and restated construction management agreement with Sunrise Wind to lead the onshore construction for the project. In this role, Eversource will solely be a service provider to Sunrise Wind.
"We're proud of the role we've played to advance Sunrise Wind to this point and are pleased that completing the sale of our ownership share will allow it to continue its progress," said Eversource Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Nolan. "Offshore wind spurs economic development, job creation, and emissions reductions, and we look forward to conducting our onshore work to help make this important clean energy project a reality, as well as continuing to leverage our transmission expertise to help enable the continued development of this important renewable resource for our region."
Eversource engaged Goldman Sachs as its financial advisor to assist with the sale. Ropes & Gray LLP served as its legal counsel.
Eversource Energy operates New England's largest energy delivery system and serves approximately 4.4 million electric, natural gas and water utility customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.
This document includes statements concerning Eversource Energy's expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, goals, strategies, assumptions of future events, future financial performance or growth and other statements that are not historical facts, including Eversource's future onshore work, and the development of offshore wind in New England and the impacts of the Sunrise Wind and other offshore wind projects on the economy, pollution and public health. These statements are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of U.S. federal securities laws. Generally, readers can identify these forward-looking statements through the use of words or phrases such as "estimate," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "project," "believe," "forecast," "would," "should," "could" and other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the current expectations, estimates, assumptions or projections of management and are not guarantees of future performance. These expectations, estimates, assumptions or projections may vary materially from actual results. Accordingly, any such statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to, and are accompanied by, the following important factors that may cause our actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those contained in our forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to: the ability to qualify for investment tax credits; variability in the costs and projected returns of the offshore wind projects and the risk of deterioration of market conditions in the offshore wind industry; cyberattacks or breaches, including those resulting in the compromise of the confidentiality of our proprietary information and the personal information of our customers; disruptions in the capital markets or other events that make our access to necessary capital more difficult or costly; changes in economic conditions, including impact on interest rates, tax policies, and customer demand and payment ability; ability or inability to commence and complete our major strategic development projects and opportunities; acts of war or terrorism, physical attacks or grid disturbances that may damage and disrupt our electric transmission and electric, natural gas, and water distribution systems; actions or inaction of local, state and federal regulatory, public policy and taxing bodies; substandard performance of third-party suppliers and service providers; fluctuations in weather patterns, including extreme weather due to climate change; changes in business conditions, which could include disruptive technology or development of alternative energy sources related to our current or future business model; contamination of, or disruption in, our water supplies; changes in levels or timing of capital expenditures; changes in laws, regulations or regulatory policy, including compliance with environmental laws and regulations; changes in accounting standards and financial reporting regulations; actions of rating agencies; and other presently unknown or unforeseen factors.
Other risk factors are detailed in Eversource Energy's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). They are updated as necessary and available on Eversource Energy's website at www.eversource.com and on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. All such factors are difficult to predict and contain uncertainties that may materially affect Eversource Energy's actual results, many of which are beyond our control. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements, as each speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and, except as required by federal securities laws, Eversource Energy undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
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