AVANGRID Renewables - PRESS STATEMENT - Legal response to the initial Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recommendations to FERC

PORTLAND, Ore., May 26, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The following are verbatim excerpts from our legal response to the initial Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) recommendations to FERC regarding a 2001 California rate case issue and are intended to help provide a framework for the basis of our response: (Please note that Iberdrola Renewables has recently undergone a legal name change to Avangrid Renewables)

1. The Presiding Judge correctly finds that Iberdrola did not engage in any unlawful activity in the spot market. (p18)

2. The Initial Decision correctly determined that the Iberdrola Contract was the product of nothing other than fair, arms-length negotiations, and that the contract was untainted by unlawful conduct. (p68)

3. [I]t is undisputed that the Energy Crisis ended with the Commission's June 19, 2001, mitigation order, and that by July 6, 2001, when the Iberdrola contract was signed, spot market volatility had ended and futures prices had largely returned to pre-Crisis levels. (p3) The Commission correctly determined in 2002 that the long-term contracts signed after June 19, 2001, were not impacted by dysfunction, whether generic or specific to any seller, and the Initial Decision confirms, once more, that the Iberdrola Contract was not affected by unlawful conduct. (p7)

4. The Initial (ALJ) Decision contains both findings of fact and conclusions of law that directly contravene and ignore Supreme Court precedent and Commission precedent and policies promoting contract sanctity and underlying the Commission's market-based rate regime. (p7)
 
This will serve as our only public statement at this stage of the legal proceedings.
 
About Avangrid Renewables: Avangrid Renewables, LLC is a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) and part of the IBERDROLA Group. Iberdrola, S.A., is an energy pioneer with the largest renewable asset base of any company in the world. Avangrid Renewables, LLC is headquartered in Portland, Ore., and has more than $10 billion of operating assets totaling more than 6,000 MW of owned and controlled wind and solar generation in 19 U.S. states. Avangrid Renewables, LLC recently changed its legal name from Iberdrola Renewables, LLC, and is in the process of implementing a rebranding effort. For more information, visit www.iberdrolaren.com.
 
About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE:AGR) is a diversified energy and utility company with more than $30 billion in assets and operations in 25 states. The company operates regulated utilities and electricity generation through two primary lines of business. Avangrid Networks includes eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving 3.1 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables operates 6.3 gigawatts of electricity capacity, primarily through wind power, across the United States. AVANGRID employs 7,000 people. The company was formed by a merger between Iberdrola USA and UIL Holdings Corporation in 2015. IBERDROLA S.A. (Madrid: IBE), a worldwide leader in the energy industry, owns 81.5% of AVANGRID. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.