Puget Sound Energy welcomes new investment
New investment reflects prospects for strong regional growth and shared commitment to PSE’s Beyond Net Zero Carbon goal
No change in local operations, leadership, employment or regulatory oversight

BELLEVUE, Wash. (7/7/2021) Puget Sound Energy (PSE) announced today that it is welcoming two new shareholders to the group of public- and private-sector pension and retirement fund managers with stakes in the utility.

Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) will acquire equal shares of a 31.6%, non-controlling interest in PSE’s parent company, Puget Holdings, currently held by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments). Ontario Teachers’ administers Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan. MAM is returning as an investor in PSE, after having previously led a consortium of investors through a time-limited fund that ended in 2019. PSE’s other investors will maintain their current level of interest: Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) (13.6%); British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) (20.9%); OMERS (23.9%); and PGGM (10%).

“PSE serves one of the most vibrant and dynamic regions in the country,” said Mary Kipp, PSE president and CEO. “The strong prospects for regional growth, combined with PSE’s plans for leading a clean energy future through our commitment to being a Beyond Net Zero Carbon energy company by 2045, enable us to attract experienced utility investors looking for long-term investments that align with their values and goals. It’s a vote of confidence in our region, our company, and our 3,100-plus local employees.”

“We are very excited to once again partner with Puget and its strong management team,” said David Fass, head of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, Americas. “We have always believed Puget to be an outstanding company with an industry leading commitment to safety, reliability and sustainability. Particularly after the passage of landmark environmental legislation like the Clean Energy Transformation Act, we are thrilled to be reinvesting in the company at this critical time.”

“We are pleased to become shareholders in Puget and expand our portfolio of core infrastructure assets in the United States,” said Dale Burgess, senior managing director of Infrastructure & Natural Resources at Ontario Teachers’. “Puget will play a key role in decarbonizing Washington State’s power generation and assisting local industries and consumers to lower their carbon footprints, which is aligned with our own net zero ambition and focus on helping our portfolio companies’ transition to and thrive in a low-carbon economy.”

Today’s announcement will not impact the utility’s customers or employees, with all operations and leadership continuing to be local. The change in investors is subject to customary conditions, including the approval of the state Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC). PSE plans to file for approval of the transaction with the UTC in August. In addition, PSE will continue to be state and federally regulated and will continue meeting all applicable Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure requirements.

PSE and its shareholders have made continuous improvements and investments on behalf of customers and local communities since PSE became a privately-owned utility in 2009.

  • Continuously upgraded our natural gas and electric system to better deliver safe, dependable service to our 1.5 million residential and business customers. That includes investments of more than $7 billion in projects that are part of the critical infrastructure that serves our communities.
  • Working toward a climate-leading, aspirational goal of being a Beyond Net Zero Carbon energy company by 2045. We will reduce our own carbon emissions to net zero and go beyond by helping other sectors to enable carbon reduction across the state of Washington.
  • Keeping energy costs reasonable, with monthly electric bills competitive with or significantly lower than neighboring public utilities while having natural gas bills that are lower than what they were in 2013.
  • Helping our residential and business customers lower their bills through energy efficiency programs that cut electricity consumption by more than 24 billion kilowatt hours— that’s more than enough to power every home and business we serve for a full year.
  • Deploying new web and mobile tools for easy account management, including bill payment and outage information.
  • Maintaining local employment, headquarters and leadership.

 

CPP Investments
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Fund in the best interest of the more than 20 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, investments are made around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At March 31, 2021, the Fund totaled C$497.2 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

Macquarie Asset Management
Macquarie Asset Management provides specialist investment solutions to clients across a range of capabilities including infrastructure & renewables, real estate, agriculture, transportation finance, private credit, equities, fixed income, and multi-asset solutions.

As of March 31, 2021, the MAM business had $A562.2 billion of assets under management. MAM has over 1,900 staff operating across 22 markets.

MAM, through its affiliates, has been managing assets for institutional and retail investors since 1980 in Australia and in the United States, retail investors recognize the Delaware Funds® by Macquarie family of funds as one of the longest-standing mutual fund families, with more than 80 years in existence.

Ontario Teachers’
The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) is the administrator of Canada's largest single-profession pension plan, with C$221.2 billion in net assets (all figures at December 31, 2020). It holds a diverse global portfolio of assets, approximately 80% of which is managed in-house, and has earned an annual total-fund net return of 9.6% since the plan's founding in 1990. Ontario Teachers' is an independent organization headquartered in Toronto. Its Asia-Pacific regional offices are in Hong Kong and Singapore, and its Europe, Middle East & Africa region office is in London. The defined-benefit plan, which is fully funded, invests and administers the pensions of the province of Ontario's 331,000 active and retired teachers. For more information, visit otpp.com  and follow us on Twitter  @OtppInfo.


Media Contact:
Andrew Padula, 1-888-831-7250, psenewsroom@pse.com

Puget Sound Energy is proud to serve our neighbors and communities in 10 Washington counties.
We're the state’s largest utility, supporting more than 1.2 million electric customers and nearly 900,000 natural gas customers.
We aspire to be a beyond net zero carbon energy company by 2045.
For more about us and what we do, visit pse.com. Also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.