Anschutz’s California Green

Philip Anschutz – the billionaire AEG principal – is putting a spin on “carrying coals to Newcastle” by trying to sell wind-generated energy to California over a 725-mile transmission line. Problem is, California doesn’t want it.

Gov. Jerry Brown has made his preference known for in-state, renewable-energy projects, and California utilities say they can meet green energy requirements with projects closer to home.

“A couple of years ago, it looked to us that the future was going to be large wind projects beyond Nevada, but not now,” San Diego Gas and Electric VP Matt Murkhart told the Denver Post.

Anschutz, in addition to putting AEG on the block for what’s believed to be a figure north of $10 billion, is betting $9 billion on what’s billed as the nation’s largest wind farm – 1,000 turbines on 2,000 acres in Wyoming. The bill comes to $6 billion for the farm itself, plus another $3 billion to build the line to California. Forbes estimates Anschutz himself is worth about $7.6 billion.

Wyoming officials have met with Brown’s staff, the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission, who weren’t biting.

But while they also don’t flatly reject the idea, the CEC projects that for the next 10 years out-of-state renewable energy will come from Arizona, Nevada and the Northwest – not Wyoming.

But no one should count Anschutz out – not with his impressive ability to “fail up” and a backstory straight out of “Citizen Kane.”

He got his start in oil and gas exploration, despite an early well explosion that he had to let burn because he couldn’t afford to fight it (Anschutz reportedly sold filming rights to the blaze to a Hollywood studio for $100,000).

He turned it into an early fortune and mostly got out, though Anschutz Exploration Corp. still has some projects. He sold 500,000 leases in Pennsylvania for what analysts estimated at “billions of dollars,” according to the Post.

Then he moved into railroads. He bought the failing Rio Grande and Southern Pacific Railroads, sold much of the land for $2 billion and used the cash to upgrade the lines. He sold the railroad to Union Pacific in 1996 for $5.4 billion.

Anschutz used the railroad right-of-way to lay fiber optic cable, becoming the basis of Qwest Communications – and largely escaped scandals – including several insider-trading trials in 2007 – when he retired as a director in 2006 and sold his shares.

His entertainment holdings include theatre chain Regal Entertainment Group and, of course, AEG.

As for Anschutz selling wind energy to California, NextEra Energy Resources VP Michael O’Sullivan told the Post: “It will be like sinking a 140-yard putt.”

But Anschutz’s Power Company of Wyoming CEO, Bill Miller, likes his boss’s chances. 

“I don’t disagree,” he told the Post. “But one thing we are good at is managing risk, and sometimes we sink a long putt.”