Scottish Power
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ScottishPower Plc is an energy company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It owns the National Grid system in the south of Scotland, supplies electricity and gas to homes and business around the United Kingdom, and generates power for supply to the grid. It also owns Pacificorp in the United States. ScottishPower is quoted on the London Stock Exchange as part of the FTSE 100 Index, and has a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
ScottishPower was formed in March 1991, by the privatisation of the previously state owned Scottish electricity industry. Previously the UK government had privatised the English and Welsh electricity industry by splitting the market into 12 supply companies and two power generators. However in Scotland, the industry was already organised on an integrated generation and supply basis, and this integration survived the privatisation to become a model for the rest of the United Kingdom. ScottishPower was formed by the privatisation of the larger of the two generation and supply boards, the South of Scotland Electricity Board, whilst the other, the North of Scotland Hydro Board, eventually became part of the Scottish and Southern Energy Group.
ScottishPower was the larger of the two Scottish energy companies and benefited from being both a generator and supplier of power. In 1995 it acquired the English supplier, Manweb which supplied Merseyside and North Wales. It later diversified into the water supply business with the purchase of Southern Water. When the supply of energy into British homes was opened up to competition, ScottishPower entered this market, stealing share from the previous gas supply monopoly British Gas and also building new market share in England and Wales. It also has a partnership with the Sainsbury's supermarket chain.
In the United Kingdom, ScottishPower generates electricity using coal fired thermal power stations, combined cycle power stations, hydro-electric schemes, pumped storage generation and substantial wind farms. It also supplies electricity to Northern Ireland, through the Moyle Interconnector with Northern Ireland Electricity.
In 2000, ScottishPower completed the acquisition of Pacificorp which supplies electricity in the western United States. It now operates as Pacific Power (in the regulated energy industries of the states of Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, and California), as Utah Power (in the regulated energy industries of the states of Idaho and Utah), and as PPM Energy (in the non-regulated energy industry). In the United States, Scottish Power generates electricity using coal and natural gas fired thermal power stations, hydro-electric stations, wind farms, geothermal and solar power stations. The results of this are that the group now generates 50% of its income in the United States.
ScottishPower also established the telecommunications company, Thus. This was floated on the London Stock Exchange with ScottishPower retaining a 20% stake, until 2002 when it sold its interest.
In May 2005 ScottishPower announced that it had agreed to sell its U.S. interests to MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a company controlled by Warren Buffet's company Berkshire Hathaway, for $5.1 billion in cash and $4.3 billion in debt and preferred stock. The successful completion of the deal was announced on 21 March 1996, after securing regulatory approvals. ScottishPower intends to return a large proportion of the proceeds to its shareholders.
Following the announcement, the group's share price rose, but were now widely seen as vulnerable to a takeover. It was soon revealed that German energy group E.ON, who also own Powergen, were interested in a takeover. On 2005-11-22 the board rejected an offer from E.ON of 570 pence a share, which would have valued the group at £10.7 billion. [1]