Constellation (energy company)

Constellation is an energy company headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is a subsidiary of Exelon. The company provides electric power, natural gas, and energy management services. It has approximately two million customers across the continental United States.[2]

Constellation
TypeSubsidiary of Exelon
IndustryEnergy
Founded1999
HeadquartersBaltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Key people
Products
Websitewww.constellation.com
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Calvert County's Lusby, Maryland

The company was known as Constellation Energy Group (former NYSE ticker symbol CEG), until a merger with Exelon in 2012.[3] When the acquisition was approved by FERC, Constellation Energy's energy supply business was re-branded as Constellation, an Exelon company. As part of the 2012 merger, Baltimore Gas and Electric, the regulated utility operated by Constellation Energy, became a regulated utility operating under Exelon Utilities.[4]

Before merging with Exelon, Constellation Energy Group operated more than 35 power plants in 11 states (mainly Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia, and California). Baltimore Gas and Electric created Constellation as a holding company in 1999.[5] Constellation Energy was a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest electricity producers in the United States.

History

On September 15, 2005, Constellation Energy announced a joint venture, UniStar Nuclear, with Areva to market the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) in the United States. On December 19, 2005, FPL Group, Inc. announced the acquisition of Constellation Energy in a merger transaction valued at more than US$11 billion as well as the fact that it would adopt "Constellation Energy" as its name for the post-merger entity. The merger was canceled on 25 October 2006.[6]

On July 1, 2008, Constellation Energy bought uranium trading firm Nufcor International from AngloGold Ashanti and FirstRand International.[7] A year later it was sold to Goldman Sachs.[8]

In September 2008, reporting that Constellation Energy had exposure to Lehman Brothers following that investment banking firm's bankruptcy filing, Constellation's stock went down 56% in the first day of trading, having started at $67.87. The massive drop in the company's stock price led the New York Stock Exchange to halt trade of Constellation. The next day, as the stock fell as low as $13 a share, the company announced it was hiring Morgan Stanley and UBS to advise it on "strategic alternatives" suggesting a buyout. While French power company Electricite de France, who already owned 9.5% of Constellation's shares, bid for the company,[9] Constellation ultimately agreed to a buyout by MidAmerican Energy, part of billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway company.[10][11][12] However, on December 17, 2008, Constellation Energy canceled its merger with Berkshire Hathaway and opted to sell its nuclear energy assets to EDF.[13]

In April 2010, Constellation Energy closed its agreement with Clipper Windpower to acquire the Criterion Wind Project in Garrett County, Maryland, and to purchase 28 Clipper Liberty 2.5 MW wind turbines for the project. Construction of the project was completed in December 2010.

In May 2010, Constellation acquired two natural gas combined-cycle generation facilities in Texas from Houston-based Navasota Holdings. The $365 million transaction included the Colorado Bend Energy Center, a 550-MW facility near Wharton, Texas, and Quail Run Energy Center, a 550-MW facility near Odessa, Texas. The purchase added 1,100 MW of capacity to Constellation Energy's generation portfolio.

On April 28, 2011, Exelon Corporation announced its intention to purchase Constellation Energy. The merger was completed on March 12, 2012, at which point Exelon took ownership of Constellation's assets and business units.[14]

On May 27, 2011, Constellation Energy announced its intention to purchase StarTex Power, one of the leading retail electricity providers in Houston, Texas. That purchase of StarTex Power was completed on June 1, 2011.[15] In 2018, the StarTex brand was discontinued and its existing customers served by Constellation.[16]

In May, 2011, Constellation acquired MXenergy, a residential and small business energy provider with approximately half a million customers in 15 states. In December 2011, Constellation announced the acquisition of ONEOK Energy Marketing Co., a natural gas company with customers in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Nebraska, Wyoming and Illinois.

In 2011, Constellation was contracted to construct and operate what was then the largest rooftop solar array ever constructed for the Toys-R-Us distribution center in Flanders, New Jersey.[17]

In March, 2014, Constellation entered into an agreement to acquire ETC ProLiance Energy,[18] a supplier of natural gas to customers in Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, Tennessee, and Kentucky. In November, 2014, Constellation completed its acquisition of Integrys Energy Services, a competitive retail electricity and natural gas subsidiary serving customers across 22 Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states and the District of Columbia.

In September 2016, Constellation completed its acquisition of the retail electricity and natural gas business from ConEdison Solutions, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE: ED). In the purchase, Constellation acquired ConEdison Solutions' retail electricity and natural gas customer contracts and associated supply contracts serving approximately 15 TWh of electricity and 1 billion cubic feet per annum (28,000,000 m3/a) of natural gas to more than 560,000 commercial, industrial, public sector and residential customers across 12 Northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and Midwestern states, Texas, and the District of Columbia.

In August 2018, Constellation began construction of a 10-megawatt solar array outside of Ocean City, Maryland. When completed, the array will provide Ocean City with approximately 20% of its annual energy usage.[19] In October 2018, Constellation and the Tucson Unified School District completed a project that added solar generation capability to 82 of the district's buildings and facilities. It is estimated that the project will meet 47% of the district's electricity needs.[20]

Operations

Electric power

Constellation provides to commercial and industrial customers fixed, index, and blended pricing solutions of electric power, including renewable energy. Its wholesale electricity supply business manages the sales, dispatch, and delivery of energy from Exelon's power generation portfolio to utilities, municipal co-ops, and energy retailers nationwide.[2] As of 2018, Constellation had around 360 megawatts of solar generation assets that is either in operation or under construction across the United States, including Maryland,[21] California, Arizona, New Jersey, and Texas. In 2011, Constellation was contracted to construct and operate what was then the largest rooftop solar array ever constructed for the Toys-R-Us distribution center in Flanders, NJ.[22]

Company's offsite renewables service (CORe) provides access to offsite renewable energy projects through a retail power contract. CORe combines location-specific renewable energy purchases and renewable energy certificates with a physical load-following energy supply contract.

Natural gas

Constellation delivers approximately 730 billion cubic feet (21 billion cubic metres) of natural gas annually to customers, making it one of the ten largest natural gas marketers in the United States. The company oversees trading, transport and storage of physical gas supply, pricing, hedging and risk management.

Constellation Technology Ventures

Constellation Technology Ventures (CTV), Exelon's venture capital fund, invests in emerging energy technologies with the goal of providing new solutions to customers. CTV invests in start-up companies whose emerging energy technologies have the potential to transform the industry.[23]

Baltimore Community Involvement

Historical Archives

Constellation owns the archives of the Baltimore Gas & Electric Company and the former Consolidated Gas Light, Electric Power Company of Baltimore City and its ancient predecessor, the Gas Light Company of Baltimore. The archives are held by the Baltimore Museum of Industry on the southeastern end of the Inner Harbor. The Baltimore Gas & Electric Company's photographic collection consists of approximately 250,000 photographic prints and negatives, in more than 50,000 series[24]

Philanthropy

Constellation ranks second in local corporate giving among Baltimore-based companies and donated $7.10 million in 2017.[25] The company also provides grants to local schools that implement education programs promoting science and technology.[26]

See also

References
  2. "ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 : For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2016". Sec.gov. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  3. "Constellation, Exelon close $7.9B merger". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2012-11-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Bloomberg News (1999-05-01). "COMPANY NEWS; BALTIMORE GAS AND ELECTRIC TO SELL 15 NURSING HOMES". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  6. "FPL, Constellation cancel planned merger". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2007-09-09. Retrieved 2006-10-25.
  7. "US power company buys up uranium trader". World Nuclear News. 2008-07-01. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  8. Gelsi, Steve. "Constellation selling commodities units to Goldman Sachs". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2019-05-21.
  9. "France's EdF pulls drops bid for US Constellation". International Herald Tribune. 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2008-10-17.
  10. Desmond, Maurna (2008-09-17). "Lehman Ties Dim Constellation". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  11. Thomson, Victoria (2008-09-19). "Power deal delivers new star to Buffett's energy constellation". The Scotsman. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  12. Gaffen, David (2008-09-18). "Buffett Shoots for Falling Constellation". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  13. "Constellation calls off Buffett deal Agreement on EDF's nuclear bid scuttles $4.7 billion MidAmerican offer". The Baltimore Sun. 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
  14. "Exelon, Constellation Energy to merge". HydroWorld. PennWell Corporation. 2011-04-28. Archived from the original on 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2011-04-28.
  15. "Constellation Energy acquires StarTex Power" (PDF). StarTex Power. 2011-05-27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-04.
  16. "StarTex Power is now Constellation in Texas - Constellation". Blog.constellation.com. 20 June 2018.
  17. Lombardi, Candace (2011-05-11). "Toys 'R' Us building massive rooftop solar project". CNET Magazine. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  18. Morris, Patrick (19 March 2014). "Exelon Corporation to Buy Natural Gas Supplier ProLiance Energy". The Motley Fool.
  19. "Construction begins on solar array just outside Ocean City" (Press release). Ocean City. 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  20. Sylvia, Tim (2018-10-15). "Arizona's largest solar project for a school district goes online". PV Magazine. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  21. "Constellation begins construction on 10-MW solar project in Maryland". Solar Power World. 20 August 2018.
  22. https://www.cnet.com/news/toys-r-us-building-massive-rooftop-solar-project/
  23. "Company Overview of Constellation Technology Ventures". Bloomberg.com.
  24. "The Baltimore Museum of Industry Collections Database". Thebmi.org. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
  25. Sieron, Maria. "Largest Corporate Philanthropists in Greater Baltimore". Baltimore Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  26. Nagel, David. "Grant Spotlight: $25,000 E² Energy to Educate Program". The Journal. 1105 Media, Inc. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
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