ALLETE Inc. (NYSE:ALE) is providing sustainable solutions for
the nation’s changing energy and water needs, company investors
heard today at the Duluth-based energy company’s 2016 Annual
Meeting of Shareholders.
About 700 people attended the 2016 Annual Meeting at the Duluth
Entertainment Convention Center on Tuesday, where they re-elected
10 directors, approved compensation-related resolutions and
ratified the appointment of ALLETE’s accounting firm. After
conducting business, they heard from Al Hodnik, ALLETE’s chairman,
president and CEO.
“ALLETE was forged from the rock and renewable hydropower just
up the hill from here 110 years ago,” Hodnik said. “That renewable
and sustainable ethos lives on today within the hearts and minds of
ALLETE’s employees.”
Part of that sustainability is financial. Hodnik reported ALLETE
earned $2.92 per share in 2015 on net income that was up 13 percent
over 2014, operating revenue grew by 31 percent to $1.49 billion
and ALLETE’s market capitalization sits at about $2.8 billion, up
from $2.5 billion at the end of 2014.
“Perhaps an equal or greater measure of performance is dividend
sustainability,” Hodnik said. “Recently your board raised the
dividend by 3 percent to $2.08 per share on an annual basis. Since
1948, that’s 68 uninterrupted years of paying dividends.”
Sustainability also comes from answering the nation’s carbon
challenge as it relates to climate change, where Hodnik said
ALLETE’s companies continue to make progress. ALLETE is now ranked
16th in the nation in wind power capacity when combining ALLETE
Clean Energy and Minnesota Power. A Presidential Permit is expected
to clear the way early this summer for the Great Northern
Transmission Line that will deliver 250 megawatts of hydropower
from Manitoba to Minnesota.
MP’s Bison wind farm and the Great Northern are aimed at meeting
Minnesota Power’s EnergyForward plan to shift its energy mix to
one-third renewable, one-third gas and one-third coal.
“Minnesota Power has made tremendous progress under its
EnergyForward plan,” Hodnik said. “I am pleased to say the company
is well-positioned to reach its 33 percent renewable goal as the
Great Northern moves toward construction.”
Another way to reduce carbon in the atmosphere is by planting
trees. Through its Rajala Woods initiative, Minnesota Power has
committed to planting up to 3 million pine seedlings on 3,000 acres
of company-owned land over the next decade. Minnesota Power hopes
to restore white pine and other conifers to more historical levels.
The goal is to ensure sustainable use of the forests, improve
biodiversity, improve forest resiliency during climate change and
enhance wildlife habitat and recreation.
And ALLETE is increasingly focused on the connection between
energy and water, and the growing challenges of water scarcity,
water conservation, and water quality and reuse. ALLETE acquired
U.S. Water Services in 2015.
For Minnesota Power, sustainability also means weathering a
downturn in the iron and steel industries. While there is no lack
of U.S. steel demand, seven of 11 major iron ore producers, some of
Minnesota Power’s largest customers, were shut down at times in
2015. That situation continues into 2016, but looks to be improving
as the federal government takes strong action against low-priced
imported steel.
“Viewed through the lens of 2015’s economic adversity, ALLETE’s
solid financial performance speaks to a sound strategy, a more
sustainable mix of energy businesses and to our talented employees
who continue to innovate and devise creative solutions to meet
customers’ needs as well as shareholders’ expectations,” Hodnik
said.
ALLETE shareholders, voting by proxy, elected to new terms
current directors Kathryn W. Dindo, Sidney W. Emery Jr., George G.
Goldfarb, James S. Haines Jr., Alan R. Hodnik, James J. Hoolihan,
Heidi E. Jimmerson, Madeleine W. Ludlow, Douglas C. Neve and
Leonard C. Rodman. The Don Shippar Community Service Award, given
annually, was presented to Micheline Bayiha, costing and price
analyst at Minnesota Power, for her volunteer work on behalf of the
people of her native Cameroon, Africa.
“With long-held company values still guiding us, the ALLETE of
today is more balanced, more sustainable and is well-positioned to
help answer our nation’s call to transform its energy and water
landscape all while growing ALLETE,” Hodnik said in conclusion.
“Thank you for your investment and your trust in ALLETE.”
ALLETE Inc. is an energy company headquartered in Duluth,
Minnesota. In addition to its electric utilities, Minnesota Power
and Superior Water, Light and Power of Wisconsin, ALLETE owns
ALLETE Clean Energy, based in Duluth, BNI Energy in Center, North
Dakota, U.S. Water Services in St. Michael, Minnesota, and has an
eight percent equity interest in the American Transmission Co. More
information about ALLETE is available at www.allete.com.
ALE-CORP
The statements contained in this release and statements that
ALLETE may make orally in connection with this release that are not
historical facts, are forward-looking statements. These
forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and
investors are directed to the risks discussed in documents filed by
ALLETE with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160510006338/en/
ALLETE Inc.Investor Contact:Vince Meyer,
218-723-3952vmeyer@allete.com
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