Press Release
Press Release
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Olivia Thomas
11.19.18
NextEra Energy Transmission, LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc., today announced it has entered into definitive agreements with SteelRiver Infrastructure Fund North America and its partners to acquire Trans Bay Cable, LLC for approximately $1 billion, including the assumption of debt. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings upon closing and is consistent with NextEra Energy's focus on making rate-regulated and long-term contracted investments.
The Trans Bay Cable is a 53-mile, high-voltage direct current underwater transmission cable system with utility rates set by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and revenues paid by the California Independent System Operator. The cable system extends from Pittsburg, California, to San Francisco, and provides approximately 40 percent of the electrical power used on a daily basis in San Francisco and its surrounding areas. TBC was developed and approved in response to a 1998 blackout in the Bay Area, which demonstrated a need for greater resiliency of the electric grid in that region.
The transaction requires approval from the California Public Utilities Commission and the FERC, as well as expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Assuming timely regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in 2019.
A Pillsbury team led by San Francisco Finance partner Thomas K. Gump and Corporate partner Nathaniel Cartmell III served as counsel to NextEra. Other Pillsbury team members included in San Francisco: Environmental partner Norman Carlin, Tax partner Julie Divola and Insolvency & Restructuring partner Cecily Dumas; in San Diego: Real Estate partner Eric Kremer; in Silicon Valley: Tax partner C. Brian Wainwright; in DC: Energy senior counsel Andrew Weissman and Public Practices partner Christopher Wall; in New York: Corporate partner Stephen Amdur and Litigation partner Michael Sibarium, and associates Irina Tsveklova, Olivia Lugar, Douglas Pyle, Kevin Ashe, Alexandra Brandt, Eric Moorman and Justin Brossier.