Talen Energy

Last updated
Talen Energy Corporation
Company type Private
Industry Energy
FoundedJune 1, 2015;8 years ago (2015-06-01)
Headquarters
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Key people

Mark "Mac" McFarland
(Chief Executive Officer)
Revenue$4.3 billion [1]
Number of employees
2200
Subsidiaries Cumulus Growth
Website www.talenenergy.com

Talen Energy is an independent power producer founded in 2015. It was formed when the competitive power generation business of PPL Corporation was spun off and immediately combined with competitive generation businesses owned by private equity firm Riverstone Holdings. Following these transactions, PPL shareholders owned 65% of Talen's common stock and affiliates of Riverstone owned 35%. [2] As a condition for FERC approval Talen agreed to divest approximately 1,300 megawatts of generating assets in the PJM Interconnection Region to mitigate FERC's competitiveness concerns. [2] On December 6, 2016, Riverstone Holdings completed the purchase of the remaining 65% of Talen's common stock, making it a privately owned company. [3]

Contents

History

According to the Director of Corporate Communications the name "Talen Energy" symbolizes talent of the people who work for the company and energy in terms of the product it produces and what employees bring to their jobs. Talen "represents the idea of talented people energized to succeed." [4] The company's colors of green and yellow were chosen based on then-CEO Paul Farr's love of the Green Bay Packers. [5] Today, the company's logo is simply black and white.

On June 10, 2014, PPL announced that it would spin off its competitive energy business which would merge with Riverstone Holdings' operations to create Talen. [6] The transaction needed approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice, the FERC, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before its completion. [7]

On February 2, 2015, PPL and Riverstone accepted the FERC's mitigation option in order to receive approval from FERC. [7] The Pennsylvania PUC approval followed on March 11, 2015, when the PUC approved the transfer of PPL Electric Utilities' ownership in PPL Interstate Energy Company to Talen. [8] The NRC's approval for the transfer of the Susquehanna Nuclear Plant licenses came on April 10, 2015, and on April 23, 2015, PPL received the final regulatory approval from the U.S. Department of Justice. [9] [10]

Talen Energy launched on June 1, 2015. PPL shareholders initially owned 65 percent and Riverstone owned 35% of the shares of the new company, whose shares trade on the NYSE under the symbol TLN. [11]

On June 2, 2015, Paul Farr, President and CEO of Talen, and other executives rang the opening bell on the NYSE in celebration of the Talen Energy launch. [12]

On October 8, 2015, Talen announced the sale of Ironwood Natural Gas plant to a TransCanada subsidiary for US$654 million, and Holtwood and Wallenpaupack Hydro plants to Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners of Hamilton, Bermuda for US$860 million. [13]

On December 6, 2016, Riverstone Holdings completed the purchase of the remaining 65% of Talen's common stock, making it a privately owned company.

On November 10, 2020, Talen announced its commitment to transform for a clean energy future. As part of its transformation announcement Talen noted that it will decarbonize its fleet and invest in developing renewable energy, battery storage and digital infrastructure primarily on owned land within its footprint. It also introduced its "Force for Good" philosophy, which includes maintaining its commitment to the communities in which it operates, by converting, rather than retiring its fossil generation facilities and creating new opportunities for these stakeholders through its transformation. This announcement made Talen one of the first in the competitive power industry to commit to an accelerated transformation away from coal. The Sierra Club expressed its support of Talen's actions.

Talen later reported further tangible steps made toward its goal of leading the clean energy transition and being a Force for Good. In April 2021, It announced that it had entered into a joint venture with Pattern Energy to pursue the development, financing, construction and operation of approximately 1.4 Gigawatts of utility scale renewable energy projects over the next five years. Then, in May 2021, Talen unveiled its 1 Gigawatt of battery storage project pipeline. Both the renewable energy and battery storage projects will largely be constructed on land within Talen's footprint, creating new opportunities for its communities.

During its May 2021 ESG Equity Investor Day, Talen outlined plans to construct a digital infrastructure campus on owned land adjacent to its Susquehanna nuclear generation facility outside Berwick, Pennsylvania. The campus would include facilities that would house data center and cryptocurrency mining operations. Targeted tenants for the data center facilities are organizations including Google, Amazon and Apple, to help facilitate data storage, cloud computing and processing. As the demand for technology increases, so does the requirement for energy to power these applications. Susquehanna's carbon-free power can offer a clean, reliable source of energy for clients and their applications. The campus' first facility hosts a 48-megawatt data center, with additional facilities to be constructed in the future. It also includes one 200-megawatt bitcoin mining facility as part of Talen's joint venture with TeraWulf Inc. Talen subsidiary Cumulus Coin serves as 75% owner and operator of the Nautilus Cryptomine facility which is directly powered by Susquehanna. Talen subsidiary Cumulus Data announced in January 2022 that the data center facility shell was complete and ready for its first tenant. The Nautilus Cryptomine facility began operations in early 2023.

On May 9, 2022, Talen filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in an attempt to reduce its $4.5 billion debt. [14] Its plan of reorganization was approved [15] by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on December 15, 2022. The company completed its restructuring and emerged from bankruptcy [16] on May 17, 2023. Upon its emergence, ownership of Talen Energy was transferred to a majority of its unsecured creditors consisting of a number of large financial institutions. Mark "Mac" McFarland also assumed the role of President, CEO and member of the Board, and a new independent board of directors was seated.

Facilities and infrastructure

Talen is one of the largest competitive power generation and infrastructure companies in North America. The Company owns and/or controls approximately 12,400 megawatts of generating capacity in wholesale U.S. power markets, principally in the Mid-Atlantic, Texas and Montana.

Talen's generation facilities include nuclear, coal fired and natural gas power plants. The largest plant is the Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, a 2,700 MWe nuclear power plant, located on the Susquehanna River seven miles (11 km) northeast of Berwick, Pennsylvania. [17]

The following is a list of Talen's current generation facilities owned by subsidiaries of Talen:

Nuclear

Coal

Gas

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References

  1. ↑ Kraus, Scott (June 1, 2015). "Talen Energy launches Monday, sells stock Tuesday". The Morning Call. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Talen Energy Debuts". PR Newswire. June 1, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ Kraus, Scott (December 7, 2016). "CEO Paul Farr out as Riverstone completes Talen Energy takeover". The Morning Call. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  4. ↑ "PPL merger to keep Lake operations". neagle.com. June 12, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Talen CEO says he prefers to stay in Allentown". mccall.com. June 1, 2015.
  6. ↑ "PPL Corp. to Spin off Units, Form New Co. with Riverstone". Zacks Equity Research. June 10, 2014. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "PPL, Riverstone Accept FERC Mitigation Plan on Talen Spinoff". RTO Insider. February 2, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  8. ↑ "PUC Approves Transaction as part of Large Spinoff of PPL's Electric Generation Service to Form Talen Energy" (Press release). Pennsylvania PUC. March 11, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ "PPL Request for Transfer of Susquehanna Nuclear Plan Licenses Approved by Nuclear Regulatory Commission" (Press release). Talen Energy. April 10, 2015. Retrieved September 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ Bresswein, Kurt (April 23, 2015). "PPL Corp. electricity spinoff, Talen Energy Corp., nets final approval". The Express-Times. Retrieved April 24, 2015.
  11. ↑ The Morning Call Staff (April 29, 2015). "Talen Energy to launch June 1". The Morning Call. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Talen Energy Debuts as One of the Largest Independent Power Producers in U.S." PRNewswire (Press release). Retrieved June 1, 2015.
  13. ↑ "Talen Energy to sell 3 power plants for $1.5 billion".
  14. ↑ Chutchian, Maria (10 May 2022). "Talen Energy unit files for bankruptcy, looks to slash $4.5 bln debt". Reuters. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Court Approves Confirmation of Talen Energy's Plan of Reorganization". Talen Energy Investors. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  16. ↑ "Talen Energy Corporation Announces Successful Completion of Strategic Restructuring Transactions". Talen Energy Investors. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  17. ↑ "Talen Energy unit files for bankruptcy, looks to slash $4.5 bln debt - Reuters". Reuters. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Talen Energy Reports Second Quarter Results, Highlights Strong First Half 2023 Financial and Operational Performance, and Establishes 2023 Guidance". Talen Energy Investors. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
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