Duke Energy To Sell Stake N.Y. Power Plant

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- - Duke Energy Corp. has agreed to sell its 50% ownership stake in the American Ref-Fuel trash-burning power plant in Niagara Falls, along with five others along the East Coast, to a group of investors for $306 million.

Duke is selling its 50% stake in Duke/UAE Ref-Fuel, which also owns waste-to-energy facilities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Hempstead, N.Y., to Highstar Renewable Fuels LLC. The six plants can generate a total of 380 megawatts of electricity. The deal, which must be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies, is expected to close by the middle of this year. The investor group includes an affiliate of insurance giant American International Group, along with DLJ Merchant Banking Partners III, a private-equity fund managed by Credit Suisse First Boston. Duke has been selling off assets, including the $240 million sale of the Empire State Pipeline to National Fuel Gas Co. last month, to help pay off debt and maintain its dividend as the energy trading industry has been dragged down by scandals, bankruptcies and a credit crunch. Duke also agreed to sell its 23.6% stake in a Canadian natural-gas pipeline for $245 million to partners Enbridge Inc. and Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP. Those sales, combined with the Empire State Pipeline deal, will top the North Carolina-based energy company's goal of raising $600 million in asset sales this year.

The six plants can generate a total of 380 megawatts of electricity. The deal, which must be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other agencies, is expected to close by the middle of this year.

The investor group includes an affiliate of insurance giant American International Group, along with DLJ Merchant Banking Partners III, a private-equity fund managed by Credit Suisse First Boston.

Duke has been selling off assets, including the $240 million sale of the Empire State Pipeline to National Fuel Gas Co. last month, to help pay off debt and maintain its dividend as the energy trading industry has been dragged down by scandals, bankruptcies and a credit crunch.

Duke also agreed to sell its 23.6% stake in a Canadian natural-gas pipeline for $245 million to partners Enbridge Inc. and Fort Chicago Energy Partners LP.

Those sales, combined with the Empire State Pipeline deal, will top the North Carolina-based energy company's goal of raising $600 million in asset sales this year.