Top Electric Utility Companies To Own In Right Now

Top Electric Utility Companies To Own In Right Now: Covanta Holding Corp (CVA)

Covanta Holding Corporation (Covanta), incorporated in April 16, 1992, is a holding company. The Company is a owner and operator of infrastructure for the conversion of waste to energy ( energy-from-waste or EfW), as well as other waste disposal and renewable energy production businesses. Covanta conduct all of its operations through subsidiaries which are engaged predominantly in the businesses of waste and energy services. The Company has one segment which is Americas and consists of waste and energy services operations primarily in the United States and Canada. The Company owns and holds interests in energy-from-waste facilities in China and Italy. The Company also has investments in subsidiaries engaged in insurance operations in California, primarily in property and casualty insurance. In 2011, it sold two landfill gas projects located in California. In May 2011, it acquired a metals processing facility located on its Dade energy-from-waste facility site.

< p>As of December 31, 2011, it owned 85% interest of Taixing Covanta Yanjiang Cogeneration Co., Ltd. It operates and maintains the energy-from-waste facility located in and owned by the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii. In December 2011, the Company amended the waste disposal agreement with the Union County Utilities Authority to extend their terms from 2023 to 2031 and to increase the Union County Utilities Authoritys waste disposal commitment. The Companys EfW facilities earn revenue from both the disposal of waste and the generation of electricity, generally under long-term contracts, as well as from the sale of metal recovered during the energy-from-waste process. In the Americas, it processes approximately 19 million tons of solid waste annually. In total, these assets produce over 10 million megawatt hours of baseload electricity annually. The Company operates and/or has ownership positions in 46 energy-from-waste facilities, which are ! primarily located in Nort h America, and 15 additional energy generation facilities, i! ncluding other renewable energy production facilities in North America (wood biomass and hydroelectric). The Company also operates a waste management infrastructure that is complementary to its core EfW business.

Energy-From-Waste Projects

Energy-from-waste projects have two purposes: to provide waste disposal services, typically to municipal clients who sponsor the projects, and to use that waste as a fuel source to generate renewable energy. The electricity or steam generated by the projects is generally sold to local utilities or industrial customers. The projects are capable of providing waste disposal services and generating electricity or steam. The Company provides these waste disposal services and sell the electricity and steam generated under contracts, which expire on various dates between 2012 and 2034. Many of its service contracts may be renewed for varying periods of time, at the option of the municipal client.

Tehe Compan ys energy-from-waste projects generate revenue from three main sources: fees charged for operating projects or processing waste received; the sale of electricity and/or steam, and the sale of ferrous and non-ferrous metals that are recycled as part of the energy-from-waste process. Its customers for waste disposal or facility operations are principally municipal entities, though it also markets disposal capacity at certain facilities to commercial and special waste customers. Its facilities sell energy primarily to utilities at contracted rates or, in situations where a contract is not in place, at prevailing market rates in regional markets (primarily PJM, NEPOOL and NYISO in the Northeastern United States).

The Company operates, and in some cases has ownership interests in, transfer stations and landfills, which generate revenue from ash disposal fees or operating fees. In addition, it owns, and in some cases operates, other ren! ewable en! ergy projects in the Americas segment, which generate electricity from wood wast! e (biomas! s) and hydroelectric resources. The electricity from these other renewable energy projects is sold to utilities under contracts or into the regional power pool at short-term rates. For these projects, it receives revenue from sales of energy, capacity and/or cash from equity distributions and additional value from the sale of renewable energy credits.

The Company operates energy-from-waste projects in 16 states and one Canadian province, and are constructing an energy-from-waste project in a second Canadian province. Most of its energy-from-waste projects were developed and structured contractually as part of competitive procurement processes conducted by municipal entities. Its EfW projects can generally be divided into three categories, based on the applicable contract structure at a project: Tip Fee projects, Service Fee projects that the Company owns, and Service Fee projects that it do not own but operate on behalf of a municipal owner. At Tip Fee projects , it receives a per-ton fee for processing waste, and it typically retain all of the revenue generated from energy and recycled metal sales. The Company generally owns or leases the Tip Fee facilities. At Service Fee projects, it typically charge a fixed fee for operating the facility, and the facility capacity is dedicated either primarily or exclusively to the host community client, which also retains the majority of any revenue generated from energy and recycled metal sales. The Company also owns and/or operates 13 transfer stations and four ash landfills in the northeast United States, which it utilizes to supplement and manage more efficiently the fuel and ash disposal requirements at its energy-from-waste operations. The Company provides waste procurement services to its waste disposal and transfer facilities which have available capacity to receive waste.

Biomass Projects

The Company owns and operates s! even wood! -fired generation facilities a nd have a 55% interest in a partnership which owns another w! ood-fired! generation facility. The Companys six facilities are located in California, and two are located in Maine. The combined gross energy output from these facilities is 191 megawatts. The Company generates income from its biomass facilities from sales of electricity, capacity, and where available, additional value from the sale of renewable energy credits. These facilities sell their energy output into local power pools or to local utilities at rates that are either fixed or float with the market.

Hydroelectric

The Company owns a 50% interest in two small run-of-river hydroelectric facilities located in the State of Washington, which sells energy and capacity to Puget Sound Energy under long-term energy contracts. The Company has a nominal investment in two hydroelectric facilities in Costa Rica.

Energy-From-Waste

The Company and Chongqing Iron & Steel Company (Group) Ltd. entered into an agreement to build, own, and operate a 1,800 metric ton per day energy-from-waste facility for Chengdu Municipality in Sichuan Province, Peoples Republic of China. The Company also executed a 25 year waste concession agreement for this project. In connection with this project, it acquired a 49% interest in the project company. Construction commenced in 2009 and the facility began processing waste during the year ended December 31, 2011. The electrical output from these projects is sold at governmentally established preferential rates under short-term arrangements with local power bureaus. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 85% of Taixing Covanta Yanjiang Cogeneration Co., Ltd. which, in 2009, entered into a 25 year concession agreement and waste supply agreements to build, own and operate a 350 metric tons per day energy-from-waste facility for Taixing Municipality, in Jiangsu Province, Peoples Republic of China. The Company will continue to operate its coa! l-fired f! acility.

The Comp any owns a 40% interest in Chongqing Sanfeng Covanta Environ! mental In! dustry Co., Ltd. (Sanfeng), a company located in Chongqing Municipality, Peoples Republic of China. Sanfeng is engaged in the business of owning and operating energy-from-waste projects, providing design and engineering, procurement, construction services and equipment sales for energy-from-waste facilities in China. Sanfeng owns minority interests in two 1,200 metric tons per day, 24 megawatts mass-burn energy-from-waste projects (Fuzhou project and Tongqing project), and has a contract to operate the Chengdu project. Chongqing Iron & Steel Group Environmental Investment Co. Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Chongqing Iron & Steel Company (Group) Ltd., holds the remaining 60% interest in Sanfeng. The solid waste supply for the projects comes from municipalities under long-term contracts. The municipalities also have the obligation to coordinate the purchase of power from the facilities as part of the long-term contracts for waste disposal. The electrical output from the se projects is sold at governmentally established preferential rates under short-term arrangements with local power bureaus.

The Company owns a 13% interest in a 500 metric tons per day, 18 megawatts mass-burn energy-from-waste project at Trezzo sullAdda in the Lombardy Region of Italy. The project is operated by Ambiente 2000 S.r.l., in which the Company owns 40%. The solid waste supply for the project comes from municipalities and privately-owned waste haulers under long-term contracts. The electrical output from the Trezzo project is sold at governmentally established preferential rates under a long-term purchase contract to Italys state-owned electricity grid operator, Gestore della Rete di Trasmissione Nazionale S.p.A.

Independent Power Projects

The Company has a majority interest in a 24 megawatts (gross) coal-fired cogeneration facility in Taixing City, Jiangsu Province, Peoples Repu! blic of C! hina. The project entity, in which it holds a majority interest, operates this project. T! he party ! holding a minority position in the project is an affiliate of the local municipal government. While the steam produced at this project is focused to be sold under a long-term contract to its industrial host, in practice, steam has been sold on a short-term basis to either local industries or the industrial host, in each case at varying rates and quantities. The electric power is sold at an average grid rate to a subsidiary of the provincial power bureau.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Marc Bastow]

  Waste disposal and energy management holding company Covanta (CVA) raised its quarterly dividend 9% to 18 cents per share, payable April 2 to shareholders of record as of March 26.
  CVA Dividend Yield: 4.10%

source from Top Penny Stocks For 2015:http://www.seekpennystocks.com/top-electric-utility-companies-to-own-in-right-now-2.html