Weld County – Colorado’s largest wind farm, and one of the nation’s biggest, will be dedicated today at a ceremony in northeast Colorado.
The $480 million Cedar Creek wind farm, about 55 miles east of Greeley, will have 274 wind turbines. The project will be capable of generating 300 megawatts of power, enough to serve about 100,000 homes. The facility is a joint venture of Babcock & Brown and BP Alternative Energy.
Bridge pact defended
Minneapolis – A Minnesota transportation official defended the selection of the most expensive bid, made by a partnership that includes a Longmont firm, to replace the collapsed Interstate 35W bridge, saying the state was not focused on being “cheap,” a letter obtained Monday said.
Cost, time and other factors such as aesthetics were weighed, project manager Jon Chiglo said.
At nearly $234 million, the winning bid from Flatiron of Longmont and Manson Construction was the most expensive and tied for the longest estimated time to completion, but its technical score outranked the others, Chiglo said.
Consolidation flies with DIA Partnership. The DIA Partnership has approved its consolidation into the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. Both organizations signed a memorandum of understanding for the combination.
The DIA Partnership will operate as a special-purpose entity called DIA Leadership under the Metro Denver EDC.
Arapahoe County firm lands aviation deal. Arapahoe County-based Air Methods Corp. completed its acquisition of Pittsburgh-based FSS Air- holdings Inc., parent company of CJ Systems Aviation Group.
The $25 million deal was financed primarily through a $50 million term loan and a $50 million line of credit.
Denver bonds upgraded. Fitch Ratings is upgrading its rating on $49 million in Denver bonds for airport-system revenue refunding.
Fitch is upgrading the series 2002C bonds to AA+/F1+ from AA/F1+, after the provider of a letter of credit was switched.
Xcel wins energy ruling. Xcel Energy Inc., owner of two nuclear power plants in Minnesota, won a $116.5 million court ruling because of the U.S. Energy Department’s failure to open a nuclear- waste storage facility on time.
Wednesday’s ruling was made by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Northern States Power, a subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Xcel, filed suit against the Energy Department because it did not pick up spent nuclear fuel from its reactors by 1998, as agreed upon in a contract.
Frontier wings its way to Wichita. Frontier Airlines started flying to Wichita on Monday with 76-seat Embraer E-170 regional jets.
The route was supposed to be the first new one to be flown by Frontier Airlines turboprop subsidiary Lynx Aviation, but Lynx has not yet received Federal Aviation Administration approval.
Goldman Sachs buys First Data notes. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought $1 billion of pay-in-kind notes issued by First Data Corp. as part of its leveraged-buyout financing, according to KDP Investment Advisors. The 11.5 percent notes due in 2016 were priced to yield 695 basis points more than Treasurys of similar maturity.
