ALLETE (ALE) Arm To Spruce Up 50 MW Wind Facility In Oregon

ALLETE, Inc.'s (NYSE:ALE) wholly-owned subsidiary, ALLETE Clean Energy, recently announced that it is refurbishing its 50 megawatt (MW) of Condon Wind facility in Oregon and the project is expected to be completed in 2019.

Details of the Project

The investment in revamping the Oregon wind facility includes equipment and system upgrades, which are required for high availability and clean energy production performance. The renovation will extend the operating life of the wind facility and also requalify the site for federal production tax credits. Also, the project will position the hub for re-contracting once the existing power sales agreement with Bonneville Power Administration expires in late 2022.

In addition to the Condon project, the company is restoring its 385 turbines at the Lake Benton and Storm Lake sites in order to improve the turbine performance and reliability, generate federal production tax credits at each site and support the renewal of power sales agreements at Storm Lake.

Renewable Outlook

Renewable Energy source has been gaining momentum in the United States. Wind and solar power have been two of the fastest growing sources of electricity generation over the past decade. Per a latest release from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), wind, solar and other non-hydropower renewables provided slightly less than 10% of electricity generation in 2017. EIA expects the same to provide more than 10% in 2018 and nearly 11% in 2019.

Despite efforts of the new administration to revive usage of coal in different industries, we could notice that large utilities like Ameren Crop (NYSE:AEE) and CMS Energy (NYSE:CMS) are increasingly investing in renewable energy sources to lower toxic emission.

Price Performance

In the past 12 months, shares of ALLETE have gained 3.1% versus the industry’s decline of 1.2%.

Zacks Rank & Key Pick

ALLETE currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). It pulled off average earnings surprise of 3.18% in the last four reported quarters. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 earnings has been inched up 0.9% to $4.74 in the last 60 days.

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