Laidlaw Energy to Buy California Biomass Plant

Date: June 2, 2011

Source: Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc.

Laidlaw Energy Group said it executed a final purchase agreement to acquire a 14 MW biomass-energy power plant located in Susanville, CA. The sellers of the plant are Renegy, Inc., an entity controlled by Robert M. Worsley, founder of SkyMall, Inc., and Nature Energies, Inc., a subsidiary of Hanalei Renewables, a French renewable energy company. Both companies will become equity holders in Laidlaw Energy and will be issued a new class of preferred shares. Laidlaw plans to invest about $20 million to upgrade the plant over the next 12 months after which it expects to earn annual revenues from the project of between $8 million and $9 million. Meanwhile, a 20 to 30 year power purchase agreement is currently being negotiated. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed.


PRESS RELEASE
June 06, 2011

Laidlaw Energy to acquire biomass-energy power plant in California

Laidlaw Energy Group, Inc. has executed a final purchase and sales agreement to acquire a 14MW biomass-energy power plant located in Susanville, California.

LLEG will be the 100 percent equity holder. The sellers of the Susanville plant are Renegy, Inc., an entity controlled by Robert Worsley, founder and former Chief Executive of SkyMall, Inc., and Nature Energies, Inc. Both companies will become equity holders in Laidlaw Energy and will be issued a new class of preferred shares, the company said.

Commenting on the transaction, Laidlaw Energy President & CEO Michael Bartoszek stated "We are pleased to have reached this agreement and welcome our new business partners. We look forward to working with them as we advance the Susanville project and hopefully on other potential opportunities in the future."

Laidlaw Energy plans to refurbish the Susanville plant, a process that is expected to take approximately 12 months and cost approximately $20 million. The cost of refurbishment is expected to largely be funded via a bank loan guaranteed through a program provided by the Federal government, along with a Federal grant for which the project is expected to qualify.

Laidlaw anticipates that once the plant is operational it will generate revenues of approximately $8 - $9 million per annum. A 20 to 30 year power purchase agreement is currently being negotiated. The final closing is expected to occur shortly once Laidlaw has received certain consents to the transfer of some agreements from the sellers to Laidlaw, the company added.

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