CMS Energy Corporation's 1999 Highlights: Record Growth, Strategic Acquisitions, and Successful Development Projects

Strategic Insights -

CMS Energy Corporation, a leading energy company, marked a significant year in 1999 with substantial growth, strategic acquisitions, and successful development projects. The company's chairman and CEO, William T. McCormick, Jr., highlighted the year's achievements, citing the acquisition of the CMS Panhandle companies as the most notable development. This acquisition expanded CMS Energy's presence in the U.S. energy production region, positioning the company for future growth opportunities.

Key Takeaways:

  • CMS Energy acquired the CMS Panhandle companies for $2.2 billion, including assumption of $300 million of debt, in March 1999. The acquisition included 10,400 miles of mainline natural gas pipeline and 85 billion cubic feet of underground gas storage facilities.
  • The company closed a $600 million project financing and initiated construction of the 710 megawatt Al Taweelah A2 power and desalination facility in the United Arab Emirates, which will produce 50 million imperial gallons of drinking water per day.
  • CMS Energy initiated construction of a 2,500 metric ton per day methanol production facility in Equatorial Guinea, west Africa, and arranged 27 cargoes of LNG into its Lake Charles regasification facility.
  • The company placed into commercial operation several power and gas projects, including the GasAtacama pipeline-power project, the Dearborn Industrial Generation plant, and two new gas-fueled electric generating peaking plants in Michigan.
  • CMS Energy completed a significant natural gas discovery and development wells in Texas, and discovered a major new oil field in western Venezuela.
  • The company initiated construction of two 110-megawatt, natural gas-fueled, turbine generators at the Volta River Authority's Takoradi Thermal Power Plant in Ghana, and closed $220 million financing for its third power plant in India.

Statistics:

  • CMS Energy has annual sales of approximately $6 billion and assets of about $14 billion.
  • The CMS Panhandle companies comprise 10,400 miles of mainline natural gas pipeline and 85 billion cubic feet of underground gas storage facilities.
  • The Al Taweelah A2 power and desalination facility will produce 50 million imperial gallons of drinking water per day.
  • The GasAtacama pipeline-power project transports natural gas from Argentina to northern Chile.
  • The first unit of the GasAtacama natural gas-fueled NOPEL electric generating plant at Mejillones has 370 megawatts of capacity.

Sources:

  • CMS Energy Corporation, PRNewswire, December 21, 1999.