Good partner in Emera

Article Excerpt

ALGONQUIN POWER & UTILITIES $5.85 (Toronto symbol AQN; Shares outstanding: 94.3 million; Market cap: $672.3 million; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk; Dividend yield: 4.4%; www.algonquinpower.com) is buying the 49.999% of California Pacific Electric Company (CPEC) it doesn’t own from Emera Inc. CPEC sells power to 47,000 customers in Lake Tahoe, California. Emera will receive Algonquin shares for its California Pacific stake. That will increase its ownership of Algonquin from 15% to 25%. Emera and Algonquin are also forming a 50/50 joint venture called Northeast Wind. This new business will team up with First Wind Holdings LLC to build and operate wind-energy projects in Maine, Vermont and New York State. Algonquin Power & Utilities is still a buy. buy…