Spain - Iberdrola to invest $2B in wind power farms in New York

Spanish utility giant Iberdrola is planning to invest $2 billion developing wind power farms across New York state.

But that funding hinges on New York's Public Service Commission's acceptance of Iberdrola's proposed $4.5 billion purchase of Energy East Corp. and its 63,000 customers in the Albany, N.Y., area.

Iberdrola Renewables, the company's U.S.-based renewable energy division in Portland, likely would be involved in building the wind farms, according to spokeswoman Jan Johnson.

Iberdrola, the second-largest wind energy operator in the U.S., earlier committed to at least $100 million in renewable energy investments in New York, but now appears to be upping the ante. Top company officials gathered with New York state legislators in Albany earlier this week to urge New York's Public Service Commission to approve the deal.

"We don't have to do it, but we want to do it," said Pedro Azagra, Iberdrola's director of corporate development. "The only thing we want is to invest as much as we can here."

But, Azagra added, Iberdrola plans to pull back on the $2 billion in wind farm investments if the Public Service Commission nixes the Energy East acquisition.

The deal has already received necessary federal approval and the OK from the four other Northeast states that Energy East serves. New York's Public Service Commission is the last checkpoint that the deal must clear.

Iberdrola has said it wants to wrap up the process soon, as early as this month. It brought the deal to the commission for review 10 months ago. But acquisition review proceedings could take several months more.