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ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITIONS
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2020
Business Combinations [Abstract]  
ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITIONS ACQUISITIONS AND DISPOSITIONS
See Note 15 to the financial statements in Item 8 of the Form 10-K for additional information, including details of assets and liabilities held for sale at December 31, 2019 for Southern Company, Southern Power, and Southern Company Gas. No Registrant had assets or liabilities held for sale at March 31, 2020.
Southern Power
Acquisitions
In March 2020, Southern Power entered into an agreement to acquire a controlling membership interest in an approximately 300-MW wind facility located in South Dakota. The acquisition is subject to FERC approval and certain other customary conditions to closing, including commercial operation of the facility, which is expected to occur in the fourth quarter 2020. The facility's output is contracted under two long-term PPAs. The ultimate outcome of this matter cannot be determined at this time.
Construction Projects
During the three months ended March 31, 2020, Southern Power continued construction of the Reading and Skookumchuck wind facilities. Total aggregate construction costs, excluding acquisition costs, are expected to be between $490 million and $535 million for the two facilities under construction. At March 31, 2020, total costs of
construction incurred for these projects were $447 million and are included in CWIP. The ultimate outcome of these matters cannot be determined at this time.
Project Facility
Resource
Approximate Nameplate Capacity (MW)
Location
Actual/Expected COD
PPA Contract Period
Projects Under Construction as of March 31, 2020
Reading(a)
Wind
200
Osage and Lyon Counties, KS
May 2020
12 years
Skookumchuck(b)
Wind
136
Lewis and Thurston Counties, WA
Second half of 2020
20 years

(a)
In 2018, Southern Power purchased 100% of the membership interests of the Reading facility pursuant to a joint development arrangement. Southern Power may enter into a tax equity partnership, in which case it would then own 100% of the Class B membership interests. The ultimate outcome of this matter cannot be determined at this time.
(b)
In October 2019, Southern Power purchased 100% of the membership interests of the Skookumchuck facility pursuant to a joint development arrangement. In December 2019, Southern Power entered into a tax equity agreement as the Class B member with funding of the tax equity amounts expected to occur upon commercial operation. Shortly after commercial operation, Southern Power may sell a noncontrolling interest in these Class B membership interests to another partner. The ultimate outcome of this matter cannot be determined at this time.
Development Projects
Southern Power continues to evaluate and refine the deployment of the remaining wind turbine equipment purchased in 2016 and 2017 to development and construction projects. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, certain wind turbine equipment was sold, resulting in an immaterial gain.
Sales of Natural Gas and Biomass Plants
On January 17, 2020, Southern Power completed the sale of its equity interests in Plant Mankato (including the 385-MW expansion unit completed in May 2019) to a subsidiary of Xcel for a purchase price of approximately $663 million, including final working capital adjustments. The sale resulted in a gain of approximately $39 million ($23 million after tax). The assets and liabilities of Plant Mankato were classified as held for sale on Southern Company's and Southern Power's balance sheets at December 31, 2019.
Plants Nacogdoches (sold in June 2019) and Mankato represented individually significant components of Southern Power; therefore, pre-tax income for these components for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2019 is presented below:
 
Three Months Ended March 31,
 
2020
2019
 
(in millions)
Southern Power's earnings before income taxes:(*)
 
 
Plant Nacogdoches
N/A

$
6

Plant Mankato
$
2

$
1

(*)
Earnings before income taxes for components reflect the cessation of depreciation and amortization on the long-lived assets being sold upon classification as held for sale in November 2018 and April 2019 for Plant Mankato and Plant Nacogdoches, respectively.
Southern Company Gas
On March 24, 2020, Southern Company Gas completed the sale of its interests in Pivotal LNG and Atlantic Coast Pipeline to Dominion Modular LNG Holdings, Inc. and Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, respectively, with aggregate proceeds of $178 million, including estimated working capital adjustments. The preliminary loss associated with the transactions was immaterial. Southern Company Gas may also receive two future payments of $5 million each, contingent upon certain milestones related to Pivotal LNG being met by Dominion Modular LNG
Holdings, Inc. The assets and liabilities of Pivotal LNG and the interest in Atlantic Coast Pipeline were classified as held for sale at December 31, 2019. See Notes 3 and 7 under "Other Matters – Southern Company Gas – Gas Pipeline Projects" and "Southern Company Gas – Equity Method Investments," respectively, in Item 8 of the Form 10-K and Notes (C) and (E) under "Other Matters – Southern Company Gas" and "Southern Company Gas," respectively.