Ontario Power Generation in Canada has entered into a purchase and sale agreement to buy 63 of Eagle Creek Renewable Energy’s hydroelectric facilities in the U.S., including this one in Jay.

JAY — A Canadian power company says it has entered into an agreement to purchase the New Jersey-based company that owns 11 hydroelectric stations in Maine.

Ontario Power Generation said on its website that it has agreed to acquire 100 percent equity in Eagle Creek Renewable Energy LLC for $298 million by the end of year.

Eagle Creek had acquired four stations associated with Verso’s Androscoggin paper mill in Jay, for $62 million in January 2016, as well as hydropower facilities associated with the Madison Mill in 2017. Ontario Power is acquiring Eagle Creek from affiliates of Hudson Clean Energy Partners and other shareholders.

The transaction’s closing is subject to regulatory review.

Eagle Creek’s website says it owns 76 hydroelectric facilities in the U.S. and has 230 megawatts of capacity. Its Maine properties are the Anson, Abenaki, Hackett Mills, Jay, Kezar Falls Lower, Kezar Falls Upper, Ledgemere, Livermore, Otis, Riley and Worumbo stations. Its has hydropower facilities in 13 states, including Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Eagle Creek has about 160 employees in the U.S., Ontario Power Generation said in its release.

The hydroelectric power produced by Eagle Creek’s facilities will be sold to customers in the U.S., Ontario Power spokesman Neal Kelly said Thursday.

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Ontario Power plans to retain Eagle Creek’s management team and operational employees, Kelly said. The company views these personnel as important to the current and future success of the enterprise, he said.

“We have established a very productive line of communication with Eagle Creek representatives and we look forward to maintaining that relationship under the new ownership,” Jay Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said Thursday.

“(Ontario Power Generation) produces nearly half of the electricity that Ontario homes, schools, hospitals and businesses rely on each day,” the company’s website says. The acquisition will be financed through Ontario Power’s corporate public debt program or other available credit facilities.

Kelly said the company is the largest clean electricity generator in Ontario, home to 13 million people.

Ontario Power operates 66 hydroelectric stations, including a green power portfolio of 29 small hydroelectric plants, and 241 dams on 24 rivers, its website says.

dperry@sunmediagroup.net

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