Alliant Energy To Buy Wisconsin Power Plant For $109 Million

Alliant Energy Corp., which owns utilities in four U.S. Midwest states, agreed to buy a Neenah, Wisconsin, power plant for $109 million from Mirant Corp., an energy trader which is selling assets to reduce debt.

The electricity from the natural gas-fired plant, which produces enough to light about 309,000 U.S. homes, has been sold to Wisconsin Energy Corp., the state's largest power company, through June 2008, Mirant said in a statement. The sale of the generator, about 75 miles north of Milwaukee, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Mirant, the biggest North American gas trader by volume in the first quarter, has been selling businesses to bolster its balance sheet following the collapse of Enron Corp. The Atlanta- based company will get more than $1.5 billion from asset sales this year, Senior Vice President Randy Harrison said in the statement.

Alliant, based in Madison, Wisconsin, said yesterday it's leaving the electricity-trading business after Cargill Inc. agreed to buy out its stake in their venture. Alliant supplies power, gas, water and steam to more than 3 million customers in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

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