Company Profile
Capital Power Corporation
Company Overview
Capital Power (TSX: CPX) is a growth-oriented North American power producer headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. The company develops, acquires, operates and optimizes power generation from a variety of energy sources.
Capital Power owns approximately 4,500 megawatts of power generation capacity at 24 facilities and is pursuing contracted generation capacity throughout North America.
Company History
Edmonton Electric Lighting and Power Company
On October 23, 1891, the Edmonton Electric Lighting and Power Company was granted Letters Patent by Queen Victoria’s representative to the North West Territories. Founded and operated by a group of Edmonton pioneers, the EEL&PC launched its first power plant on December 22, 1891. Powered by a hand-stoked, coal-fired steam boiler on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, the generator supplied the fledgling community of 700 with street and building lighting during the evening hours.
In May 1902, a second wave of pioneers took over as EEL&PC became the first municipally-owned electric utility in Canada. During the new century, the utility grew from operating 75 kW of power generation to 1,050 MW by 1979. Along the way it developed one of the world’s first 10,000 kW turbo-generators (1928), Canada’s largest steam boiler (1931) and Canada’s largest thermal plant (1941). In 1970, the still municipally owned operation became Edmonton Power and opened the first North American power plant to have a spring-supported foundation.
Edmonton Power became a regional leader in fossil fuel power generation over the next 25 years, expanding its natural gas-fired Clover Bar plant to 660 MW and developing the first two coal-fired units at Genesee, with a gross capacity of 820 MW.
The EPCOR Years
The third pioneering wave came in the summer of 1995 when EPCOR Utilities Inc. was incorporated as a standalone entity with the City of Edmonton as shareholder. Governed independently by a board of directors, EPCOR moved to capitalize on the deregulation of wholesale and retail power markets. In its first 10 years, EPCOR tripled its consolidated assets and revenues, while also delivering superior shareholder returns. EPCOR paid more than $1.8 billion to its shareholder in dividends, franchise fees and taxes (1996–2008), with dividends growing from $47.4 million the year prior to EPCOR’s incorporation to $130 million in 2008, a compounded rate of 8.1%.
At the dawn of 2009, EPCOR owned and/or operated 3,100 MW of generation capacity in North America from 31 separate generating stations and had an additional 650 MW of power generation capacity under construction.
From its roots on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, EPCOR had developed a North American presence and a reputation for environmental and operational leadership.
Capital Power
Today, Capital Power and its employees continue this pioneering history. Our vision is to be one of North America’s most respected, reliable and competitive power generators.
Our success is defined by how well we:
Create value for our investors, customers, and stakeholders.
Protect the health, safety and environment of our employees and communities.
Excel at developing, building, acquiring, operating and optimizing power generation from a diverse range of fuels.