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Consolidated Edison's Unit Buys Solar Project in New Jersey

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A subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED - Free Report) , Consolidated Edison Development, has recently bought the Lakehurst solar project from Starwood Energy Group Global and Energy Management Inc. The transaction details, however, were kept undisclosed following the closure of the deal.

A Brief Note on Lakehurst Solar Project

The Lakehurst solar project is an approximately 14.4-MW DC solar project currently under construction at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, a mission-critical, tri-service military base in central NJ. The solar project was developed under the Air Force’s Enhanced Use Lease program for achieving real asset optimization and long-term energy security.

How Will This Deal Benefit Consolidated Edison?

Consolidated Edison has been focusing on adding more clean energy to its grid, which is likely to help it cater to the ever-increasing demand for renewable energy, in the long run. In line with this, it is imperative to mention that in September 2019, Consolidated Edison Development, which previously owned an 80% membership interest in OCI Solar San Antonio 4 LLC (Texas Solar 4), acquired the remaining 20% interest.

Consolidated Edison has been strongly focusing on systematic capital investment plans for infrastructure development alongside investing steadily toward enhancing renewable generation assets. Notably, the company has a robust capital expenditure plan of around $12.1 billion for renewables for the 2019-2021 time frame.

Coming to quarter-specific developments, Consolidated Edison generated a whopping 1,710 million kilowatt per hours (kWh) of electricity from solar projects during the third quarter of 2019. Also, during the quarter, the company’s electric production volumes from renewables surged 89.4% year over year to 5,421 million kWh from the year-ago quarter’s figure.

Evidently, in line with its existing expansion plans, the recent purchase of the Lakehurst Solar project will be beneficial for the company in generating higher electricity production from clean energy, going forward.

Price Movement

In the past year, shares of Consolidated Edison have gained 17.6% compared with the industry’s 22.8% growth.



Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Consolidated Edison currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

A few better-ranked stocks in the same space are Dominion Energy Inc. (D - Free Report) , Edison International (EIX - Free Report) and Entergy Corp. (ETR - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Dominion Energy has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 4.8%. It outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in two of the trailing four quarters by 0.1%, on average.

Edison International has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 5.4%. It outpaced the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in one of the trailing four quarters by 0.09%, on average.

Entergy Corp has an estimated long-term earnings growth rate of 7%. It exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in two of the trailing four quarters by 4.79%, on average.

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