enbridge

PEMBINA PIPELINE INCOME FUND $17.86 (Toronto symbol PIF.UN; Units outstanding: 160.0 million; Market cap: $2.9 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 8.7%) owns nine pipeline systems with a total length of over 8,000 kilometres. This network is the largest feeder operation in Canada. These pipelines bring oil and gas from fields in northeastern B.C. and western and northern Alberta to refineries, or feed into major pipelines, such as the Enbridge Pipeline System. Pembina also owns the Syncrude, Horizon and Cheecham pipelines, which transport crude oil from the Alberta oil sands. As well, it holds a 50% interest in the Fort Saskatchewan Ethylene Storage Limited Partnership. In June 2009, Pembina paid $300 million for the Cutbank Complex, a network of natural-gas gathering and processing facilities. In the three months ended September 30, 2009, Pembina’s cash flow per unit rose 7.7%, to $0.42 from $0.39 a year earlier. The gain was mainly due to the Horizon pipeline, which was completed in November 2008, and the Cutbank Complex....

Dividend 15 Split Corp., $11.69, symbol DFN on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 11.2 million; Market cap: $131.2 million), is a split-share investment corporation that holds shares of 15 companies: BCE Inc., CI Financial Corporation, AGF Management, TransAlta Corporation, SunLife Financial, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, TransCanada Corporation, Manulife Financial, TD Bank, TMX Group, Royal Bank of Canada, Loblaw, Bank of Montreal, Telus Corporation and Enbridge. The company can also invest up to 15% of its portfolio in other equity issues. Dividend 15 Split Corp. has two share classes: Dividend 15 Split Corp. capital shares (Toronto symbol DFN), and Dividend 15 Split Corp. preferred shares (Toronto symbol DFN.PR.A)....

FORT CHICAGO ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $10.05 (Toronto symbol FCE.UN; Units outstanding: 137.9 million; Market cap: $1.4 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk) has announced that it plans to convert to a dividend-paying corporation before Ottawa starts taxing income trusts on January 1, 2011. The trust’s conversion will likely take place in the fourth quarter of 2010. Fort Chicago owns and operates energy infrastructure across North America. One of its major holdings is a 50% interest in the Alliance natural-gas pipeline, which runs 3,000 kilometres from Fort St. John, B.C., to Chicago. Enbridge Inc. owns the other 50%. Unitholders will be able to exchange their units for common shares of the new corporation on a tax-deferred basis — you won’t pay capital gains tax until you sell....

BMO DIVIDEND FUND $41.10 (BMO Mutual Funds, 77 King Street West, Suite 4200, Royal Trust Tower, Toronto, Ont., M5K 1J5, Tel: 1-800-665-7700; Web site: www.bmo.com. No load — deal directly with the bank) (CWA Rating: Conservative) holds about 48.5% of its portfolio in the Finance sector. The fund’s next-largest sectors are Energy (23.4%), Consumer Discretionary (5.9%) and Materials (5.0%). The $3.9-billion BMO Dividend Fund’s largest stock holdings are Bank of Nova Scotia, CIBC, Royal Bank, Suncor Energy, Manulife Financial, Toronto-Dominion Bank, TransCanada Corporation, EnCana Corporation, Enbridge and Goldcorp. The fund’s MER is 1.71%....

INNERGEX POWER INCOME FUND $9.95 (Toronto symbol IEF.UN; Shares outstanding: 29.4 million; Market cap: $292.6 million; SI Rating: Extra Risk) owns interests in 10 hydroelectric power plants in Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia and Idaho, as well as two wind farms in Quebec. The company’s hydroelectric plants in Quebec are at La Chaudiere, Saint-Paulin, Montmagny and Windsor. There are also three facilities at Portneuf. The Ontario plant is at Batawa, the B.C. station is at Rutherford Creek and the Idaho facility is at Horseshoe Bend. Innergex’s 10 hydroelectric plants have long-term power agreements that average 14.9 years. The two wind farms have 20-year power purchase agreements with Hydro-Quebec....

FORT CHICAGO ENERGY PARTNERS L.P. $8.47 (Toronto symbol FCE.UN; Units outstanding: 136.3 million; Market cap: $1.1 billion; SI Rating: Extra Risk) owns and operates energy infrastructure across North America. One of its major holdings is a 50% interest in the Alliance natural-gas pipeline, which runs 3,000 kilometres from Fort St. John, B.C., to Chicago. Enbridge Inc. owns the other 50%. Fort Chicago and Enbridge also own 85.4% of the Aux Sable natural gas liquids plant. As well, Fort Chicago owns 100% of the 1,324-kilometre Alberta Ethane Gathering System. Fort Chicago has added to its power-plant holdings over the last couple of years. It now owns natural gas-fired cogeneration plants in Ontario, California and Colorado, plus power plants in Ontario and Prince Edward Island....

EPCOR POWER, L.P. $15.04 (Toronto symbol EP.UN; Shares outstanding: 53.9 million; Market cap: $810.7 million; SI Rating: Extra Risk) has interests in 25 power plants in Canada and the U.S. These generate a total of 1,400 megawatts. In the three months ended June 30, 2009, EPCOR’s revenue rose 14.8%, to $165.2 million from $143.9 million. Cash flow per unit rose 29.1%, to $0.71 from $0.55. The trust’s plants generated and sold more power, including output from the Morris cogeneration facility in Illinois, which EPCOR bought late last year for $72.2 million U.S. Despite the improved results, EPCOR was still paying out almost all of its cash flow to unitholders, so it cut its quarterly distribution by 30.2%, to $0.44 a unit from $0.63, with the June 2009 payment. At this rate, it will pay out roughly 75% of its cash flow. EPCOR believes it can sustain this rate regardless of whether it remains a trust or converts to a corporation in 2011, when Ottawa’s new income-trust tax takes effect. EPCOR now yields 11.2%....

Claymore 1-5 Yr Laddered Corporate Bond ETF (exchange-traded fund), $20.78, symbol CBO on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 8.8 million; Market cap: $182.9 million), invests in a portfolio of short-term bonds drawn from the DEX (formerly Scotia Capital) Bond Index. The ETF is a recent new issue that first sold units to the public at $20 each, and began trading on Toronto on February 25, 2009. It has a 0.25% annual management fee and pays a $0.0715 quarterly distribution, which yields 1.4% on a yearly basis. The fund’s 25 holdings are divided into five staggered, or “laddered,” equally weighted maturities that range from one to five years. Each maturity includes five or more bonds with a minimum credit rating of “A”. Each year, the longest-term bonds will reach maturity, and the shorter-term bonds will be a year older. The fund can use proceeds of the matured bonds to buy new bonds that restore the desired portfolio balance....

Consumers’ Waterheater Income Fund, $6.34, symbol CWI.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 49.5 million; Market cap: $314 million), owns a portfolio of about 1.3 million installed gas-fired water heaters. These are mainly rented to residential customers in Ontario. About 40% of the 3.4 million households connected to the Ontario natural-gas system rent from the fund. These are mainly located in the Greater Toronto Area. Direct Energy (formerly part of Enbridge Inc.) services the fund’s water heaters and gets 35% of most rental revenue. In June 2006, Direct Energy sold its 19.9% equity interest in the fund. Enbridge started the water-heater rental program in the late 1950s, to encourage Ontario customers to switch to natural gas. This, in turn, would build year-round demand for Enbridge’s gas supply. Through the rental program, homeowners can install and maintain their water heaters with no capital outlay. The Canadian water-heater rental market is mainly limited to Ontario....

Enbridge Income Fund, $11.63, symbol ENF.UN on Toronto (Units outstanding: 34.6 million; Market cap: $403.3 million), holds a 50% interest in the Canadian portion of the Alliance Pipeline, and owns 100% of the Saskatchewan System. The Saskatchewan System operates crude-oil and liquids pipelines, including the Saskatchewan gathering, Westspur, Weyburn and Virden pipeline systems. The Alliance Pipeline, which went into operation in late 2000, is a 36-inch diameter pipeline with a daily capacity of 1.3 billion cubic feet of natural gas. It runs for 3,000 kilometres, from Fort St. John, British Columbia, to Chicago, Illinois. Alliance uses technology that makes it more efficient than many other pipelines. Aside from pipelines, Enbridge Income Fund holds a number of “green power” assets. These include a 50% interest in NRGreen Power Limited Partnership, which operates a waste heat recovery plant at Kerrobert, Saskatchewan. The plant converts exhaust heat from Alliance Pipeline’s natural-gas compressor station into electricity. The fund also owns a 50% interest in the SunBridge wind project in Saskatchewan, and a 33.3% interest in the Magrath and Chin Chute wind projects in southern Alberta....