EIX to Construct Wind Farm

Edison International (EIX - Analyst Report) announced that its subsidiary Edison Mission Energy (EME) along with US Wind Force, LLC, has started the construction of a wind farm. The 23-turbine wind farm christened Pinnacle Wind Farm will be built on Green Mountain near Keyser, West Virginia.

The project is expected to be completed in the latter half of fiscal 2011. The wind farm will generate approximately 55 megawatts of electricity, enough power for over 14,000 households.

The project represents a total investment of approximately $130 million. The wind farm, when operational, will become one of Mineral County's largest taxpayers, with property tax payments of approximately $10.7 million over the next 25 years.

US Wind Force, LLC, based in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, is a privately held developer of utility-scale wind energy projects.

Edison International is a California-based utility holding company operating through two principal subsidiaries: Southern California Edison Company and Edison Mission Group.

Southern California Edison (SCE) is a public utility providing electricity to central, coastal and southern California (excluding Los Angeles). SCE is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities serving a population of 13 million, through 4.9 million customer accounts across a 50,000 square mile service area.

Edison Mission Group (EMG) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Edison International.  EMG is the holding company for Edison International’s wholly-owned subsidiaries, EME and Edison Capital. EMG manages the competitive power generation business, an electric power generator and distributor and an investor in infrastructure and renewable energy projects.

EMG now has a portfolio of more than 1,800 megawatts of wind power capacity, either in operation or under construction, 30 projects in 11 states and a development pipeline of potential wind projects of approximately 3,600 megawatts.

Edison International is slated to release its earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2011 on May 2, 2011. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the first quarter is 58 cents, representing a year-over-year decrease of 29.67%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for fiscal 2011 is $2.78, down 19.59% Edison International has had a mixed track record with regard to surpassing earnings estimates in the last four quarters with a trailing four-quarter average of 3.78%.

Edison International currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold rating). We maintain our long-term Neutral rating on the stock. The near-term cautious stance is shared by its peers like ALLETE Inc. (ALE - Snapshot Report) and Sempra Energy (SRE - Analyst Report).

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