Dive Brief:

• An unregulated unit of Duluth, Minnesota-based Allete is buying three wind farms with a total capacity of 234 megawatts (MW) from AES Corp. for $27 million. It is the first investment for the Allete unit, which was formed in 2011.
• The wind farms are the 50-MW Condon project in Colorado, the 106-MW Lake Benton project in Minnesota and the 78-MW Storm Lake project in Iowa. Allete also has an option to buy AES's 101-MW Armenia Mountain wind farm in Pennsylvania.
• Power from the wind farms is sold under long-term power purchase agreements. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter.​

Dive Insight:

"This transaction will deliver incremental cash flows and the potential for long-term earnings growth while positioning Allete Clean Energy in new markets," President Eric Norberg said. "We plan to leverage these initial acquisitions as the business of renewable energy matures to the next level."