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For Immediate Release: |
Contact: |
LIPA Board Approves Neptune Undersea Cable Project
September 29, 2004 – The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) Board of Trustees today approved a 20-year contract with Neptune Regional Transmission System LLC (NeptuneRTS™) to construct and operate an undersea high-voltage transmission cable capable of supplying up to 660 megawatts of electricity to Long Island by 2007.
Ed Stern, Neptune President and CEO, said he was very pleased with the Board of Trustees’ decision and looks forward to working closely with LIPA to begin construction in 2005. The 65-mile-long cable will allow LIPA to import electricity from the mid-Atlantic region, running from Sayreville, New Jersey under the Atlantic Ocean, and interconnecting with the LIPA system at its Newbridge Road substation in Levittown.
“The Neptune Project will provide Long Island with long term access to a diverse and competitively priced energy supply,” Stern said. “LIPA has shown innovation and leadership by selecting this project as a way to meet its future energy needs without relying exclusively on expensive oil and gas resources.”
“Neptune also appreciates the cooperation shown by federal, state, and local government agencies in recognizing the importance of this project both to Long Island and to the northeastern U.S.,” Stern continued. “They have been essential in assuring that Long Island electricity consumers will get the power they need in a reliable and environmentally sound manner.”
NeptuneRTS™ is a consortium of companies with extensive experience in the field of electricity infrastructure development. The developers have selected Siemens AG, a leading global supplier of electric facilities, and Pirelli, a world leading manufacturer of electricity transmission cable, to design and construct the project.
Members of the development consortium include Cianbro Development Corporation (project manager); Boundless Energy, LLC; ESAI Energy Ventures, LLC; Standard Energy Development, Inc. and CTSBM Investments LLC. The President and CEO of NeptuneRTS™ is Edward M. Stern, formerly President of Enel North America, Inc., an owner and operator of nearly 100 renewable energy generation plants in North America.
Development and equity financing for Neptune is being provided by Energy Investors Funds (EIF) and Starwood Energy Investors, LLC, an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group Global, LLC. EIF currently manages five private equity funds that have made over 65 diversified investments with a combined underlying asset value exceeding $5 billion. EIF, which is 100% management-owned, was founded in 1987 as the first private equity fund manager to invest in the power sector. It is currently one of the principal investors in the Path 15 Upgrade project now under construction in California, an 84-mile electricity transmission line that will provide up to 1500 megawatts of capacity to northern California. (For more information visit www.eifgroup.com.)
Starwood Capital Group Global, LLC is a privately held global investment management firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut, that specializes in real estate-related investments. Its clients include many of the nation's leading public and private retirement programs, university endowments and foundations, Starwood has completed over 300 transactions representing assets in excess of $8.0 billion and maintains offices in Tokyo and London in addition to its four US offices.
For questions about EIF, please contact Elizabeth Fogerty at Rubenstein Associates
Phone: 212-843-8071
