Pinnacle West Capital
 | |
| Type | Public (NYSE: PNW) |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 400 North 5th St. Phoenix, AZ 85004 |
| Area served | AZ |
| Key people | Donald E. Brandt, CEO |
| Industry | Electric Producer & Utility Real Estate Investment |
| Products | Electricity |
| Revenue | $3.48 billion (2007)[1] |
| Net income | ▲ $307.1 million (2007)[1] |
| Employees | 7,600 (2007) |
| Subsidiaries | Arizona Public Service APS Energy Services SunCor Development El Dorado Investment |
| Website | PinnacleWest.com |
{{#badges: Climate change |CoalSwarm}}
Arizona Public Service Company is the largest electric utility in Arizona and the principal subsidiary of publicly-traded S&P 500 member Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (NYSE: PNW), which in turn had been formerly named AZP Group, when Arizona Public Service reorganized as that holding company in 1985. APS, with 4,000 MW of generating capacity, serves more than one million customers in 11 counties throughout most of the state, but mainly concentrated in northern and central Arizona.[2]
APS is regulated by the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC), the state agency that regulates all energy utilities in Arizona.
The holding company, Pinnacle West Capital, through its APS utility sells wholesale and retail power to the wider western United States and also provides energy-related services. Through another major subsidiary, Pinnacle West also develops and manages real estate in Arizona.[2]
The utility company also operates three nuclear reactors. Its Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona is the largest nuclear plant in the U.S., came under scrutiny by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2005 when operational problems began to cause prolonged outages.[2]
Contents
History
Arizona Public Service Company began to pay a cash dividend to shareholders in 1920, and continued the annual dividend without interruption through the 1980s. The stock doubled in price through the long bear market of the 1970s, while paying a 10% dividend yield. By then it had become an electric and natural gas utility fueled 94.4% by coal plants, 5.2% by natural gas, and 0.4% by oil. The company traded its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange, and in 1976, the company issued a preferred stock with a 10.5% dividend, callable in 1990.[3]
APS also performed well through the early 1980s recession, reaching peak earnings of over $255 million in 1983. However, by then the company had accumulated over $2.1 billion in long-term debt. 1984 was a down year for both earnings and the stock price, which at its low that year had lost almost half its value from the 1983 peak.[3]
AZP Group
In February 1985, Arizona Public Service Company reorganized into a holding company structure, named AZP Group Inc.[4] It traded under the ticker symbol AZP. 1985 earnings reached a new record high at almost $290 million, and by the end of the year the stock price had doubled from its 1984 low.[3]
Pinnacle West Capital
In 1987, AZP Group changed its name to Pinnacle West Capital Corporation, and began trading under the new ticker symbol PNW. The utility continued to operate as its principal subsidiary.[4] By then Pinnacle's long-term debt had grown to almost $2.4 billion. Earnings had declined to $260 million in 1986, but were recovering by the end 1987. However, the stock price reached an all-time peak that year, which was not surpassed for the next decade, as the company ran into troubles through the early 1990s.[3]
Power portfolio
Out of its total 10,640 MW of electric generating capacity in 2005 (1.0% of the U.S. total), Pinnacle West produced 39.6% from nuclear, 35.2% from natural gas, 24.3% from coal, 1.0% from oil, and 0.1% from solar. Pinnacle West owns power plants in Arizona (86.4% of generating capacity) and New Mexico (13.6%).[5]
Existing coal-fired power plants
Pinnacle West owned or co-owned 9 coal-fired generating stations in 2005, with 2,580 MW of capacity. Here is a list of Pinnacle West's coal power plants:[5][6][7]
| Plant Name | State | County | Year(s) Built | Capacity | 2007 CO2 Emissions | 2006 SO2 Emissions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four Corners | NM | San Juan | 1963, 1964, 1969, 1970 | 1452 MW | 14,800,000 tons | 15,192 tons |
| Cholla | AZ | Navajo | 1962, 1978, 1980, 1981 | 1129 MW | 8,026,000 tons | 21,147 tons |
In 2006, Pinnacle West's 2 coal-fired power plants emitted 22.8 million tons of CO2 and 36,000 tons of SO2 (X% of all U.S. SO2 emissions).
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 Pinnacle West Capital Corp., BusinessWeek Company Insight Center, accessed July 2008.
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 2.2 Pinnacle West: The Peak of the Energy Pyramid, SeekingAlpha.com, By Ted Allrich, posted on: November 20, 2006
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Standard & Poor's Stock Guide, various issues
- ↑ Jump up to: 4.0 4.1 Compilation of Investor-Owned Utility Transactions - Holding Companies Established, American Public Power Association, (updated 09-03)
- ↑ Jump up to: 5.0 5.1 Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed April 2008.
- ↑ Environmental Integrity Project, Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants, July 2007.
- ↑ Dig Deeper, Carbon Monitoring for Action database, accessed June 2008.
Related SourceWatch Articles
External Articles
Wikipedia also has an article on Pinnacle West Capital. This article may use content from the Wikipedia article under the terms of the GFDL.
