Allete acquires New Energy Equity to ramp up solar expansion

Published on March 04, 2022 by Dave Kovaleski


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Allete is acquiring New Energy Equity, one of the nation’s top distributed solar developers, for $165.5 million.

New Energy Equity, based in Annapolis, Md., is one of the country’s leading distributed solar development companies. It has completed more than 250 projects across the nation totaling more than 310 megawatts. New Energy Equity also offers solar operations, maintenance, and asset management services through its subsidiary, Energy Support Services. New Energy Equity closed 35 solar projects in 2021, representing more than 80 megawatts.

“New Energy Equity’s strong track record of success, talented and experienced team, robust project pipeline, and significant growth potential will support ALLETE’s long-term average annual growth objective of 5 percent to 7 percent,” Allete Chair, President and CEO Bethany Owen said. “The company is a natural fit with our sustainability-in-action strategy and shares our commitment to transforming the nation’s energy landscape. Solar is an exciting and expanding area of our industry’s clean-energy transformation, and New Energy Equity brings to ALLETE the expertise and experience to offer comprehensive solar solutions to customers, adding to our existing wind energy capabilities.”

Solar Power World ranked New Energy Equity as the nation’s 7th Top Solar Developer and 8th Top Commercial Solar Contractor in 2021. It has a portfolio of completed projects and projects under development in 26 U.S. states.

“Our team is excited to join the ALLETE family of companies, bringing broadened expertise and access to capital to New Energy Equity,” New Energy Equity President and CEO Matthew Hankey said. “ALLETE is an incredible organization that shares in our company’s core values, including a focus on sustainability, long-term partnerships, and a workforce culture that promotes and values employee contributions. With our combined experience, we can expand the reach of distributed-generation solar and storage projects to provide more sustainable energy solutions for our communities, industry partners, and customers. We look forward to joining forces with ALLETE to help further the clean-energy transformation together.”

Allete expects the purchase to close in mid-April. New Energy Equity’s entire team will remain in place, as will its Maryland headquarters.

“New Energy Equity’s business model—developing, financing, and selling a large number of small projects annually—complements ALLETE’s other businesses that typically focus on larger, utility-scale projects. With its flexible capital needs, attractive cash flow, and earnings accretion characteristics, we believe New Energy Equity is a strong value proposition for ALLETE and its investors,” Owen said.