TRP looks past Energy East

Article Excerpt

TRANSCANADA CORP. $63 (Toronto symbol TRP; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Utilities sector; Shares outstanding: 871.1 million; Market cap: $54.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.0; Dividend yield: 4.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.transcanada.com) has asked regulators to delay their examination of its proposed Energy East pipeline by 30 days. The $15.7 billion Energy East project involves converting part of the company’s Mainline natural gas line to handle oil. That would let Trans- Canada pump crude from Alberta to refineries in Quebec and New Brunswick. The National Energy Board recently said it would broaden the scope of its review to include Energy East’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions, including the extraction and processing of crude oil before it’s shipped on the pipeline. TransCanada has no control over these activities. Even if the company has to scrap Energy East, it’s still working on $24 billion worth of other projects. That excludes its $8.0 billion U.S. Keystone XL pipeline, which would pump crude from Alberta to refineries…