The AES Corporation (AES)

Business Overview

We are a global power holding company incorporated in Delaware in 1981. Through our subsidiaries, we operate a portfolio of electricity generation and distribution businesses and investments on five continents and in 27 countries.

Our Businesses

We operate two types of businesses. The first is our distribution and transmission business, which we refer to as Utilities, in which we operate electric utilities and sell power to customers in the retail (including residential), commercial, industrial and governmental sectors. These customers are typically end users of electricity. The second is our Generation business, where we sell power to wholesale customers such as utilities or other intermediaries. The revenues and earnings growth of both our Utilities and Generation businesses vary with changes in electricity demand.

Our Utilities business consists primarily of 13 distribution companies in seven countries with over 10 million end-user customers. All of these companies operate in a defined service area. This segment is composed of:

·       integrated utilities located in:

·        the United States—Indianapolis Power & Light (“IPL”),

·        Cameroon—AES SONEL.

·       distribution companies located in:

·        Brazil—AES Eletropaulo and AES Sul,

·        Argentina—Empresa Distribuidora La Plata S.A. (“EDELAP”), Empresa Distribuidora de Energia Norte (“EDEN”) and Empresa Distribuidora de Energia Sure (“EDES”),

·        El Salvador—Compañia de Alumbrado Eléctrico de San Salvador, S.A. de C.V. (“CAESS”), Compania, S. En C. de C.V. (“AES CLESA”), Distribuidora Electrica de Usulutan, S.A. de C.V. (“DEUSEM”) and Empresa Electrica de Oriente (“EEO”), and

·        Ukraine—Kievoblenergo and Rivneenergo.

Performance drivers for these businesses include, among other things, reliability of service, management of working capital, negotiation of tariff adjustments, compliance with extensive regulatory requirements and, in developing countries, reduction of commercial and technical losses.

Utilities face relatively little direct competition due to significant barriers to entry which are present in these markets. In this segment, we primarily face competition in our efforts to acquire businesses. We compete against a number of other participants, some of which have greater financial resources, have been engaged in distribution related businesses for periods longer than we have, and have accumulated more significant portfolios. Relevant competitive factors for Utilities include financial resources, governmental assistance, regulatory restrictions and access to non-recourse financing. In certain locations, our utilities face increased competition as a result of changes in laws and regulations which allow wholesale and retail services to be provided on a competitive basis. We can provide no assurance that deregulation will not adversely affect the future operations, cash flows and financial condition of our Utilities business. The results of operations of our Utilities business are sensitive to changes in economic growth and regulation,

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abnormal weather conditions in the area in which they operate, as well as the success of the operational changes that have been implemented (especially in emerging markets).

In our Generation business, we generate and sell electricity primarily to wholesale customers. Performance drivers for our Generation business include, among other things, plant reliability, fuel costs and fixed-cost management. Growth in this business is largely tied to securing new power purchase agreements, expanding capacity in our existing facilities and building new power plants. Our Generation business includes our interests in 97 power generation facilities owned or operated under management agreements totaling over 35 gigawatts of capacity installed in 21 countries.

Approximately 68% of the revenues from our Generation business are from plants that operate under power purchase agreements of five years or longer for 75% or more of the output capacity. These long-term contracts reduce the risk associated with volatility in the market price for electricity. We also reduce our exposure to fuel supply risks by entering into long-term fuel supply contracts or through fuel tolling contracts where the customer assumes full responsibility for purchasing and supplying the fuel to the power plant. As a result of these contractual agreements, these facilities have relatively predictable cash flows and earnings. These facilities face most of their competition prior to the execution of a power sales agreement, during the development phase of a project. Our competitors for these contracts include other independent power producers and equipment manufacturers, as well as various utilities and their affiliates. During the operational phase, we traditionally have faced limited competition due to the long-term nature of the generation contracts. However, since competitive power markets have been introduced and new market participants have been added, we have and will continue to encounter increased competition in attracting new customers and maintaining our current customers as our existing contracts expire.

The balance of our Generation business sells power through competitive markets under short term contracts or directly in the spot market. As a result, the cash flows and earnings associated with these facilities are more sensitive to fluctuations in the market price for electricity, natural gas, coal and other fuels. However, for a number of these facilities, including our plants in New York, which include a fleet of low-cost coal fired plants, we have hedged the majority of our exposure to fuel, energy and emissions pricing for the next several years. These facilities compete with numerous other independent power producers, energy marketers and traders, energy merchants, transmission and distribution providers and retail energy suppliers. Competitive factors for these facilities include price, reliability, operational cost and third party credit requirements.

As described above, AES operates within two primary businesses, the generation of electricity and the distribution of electricity. AES previously reported its financial results in three business segments: contract generation, competitive supply and regulated utilities. As of December 31, 2006, we have changed the definition of our segments in order to report information by geographic region and by line of business. We believe this change more accurately reflects the manner in which we manage the Company.

Our businesses include Utilities and Generation within four defined geographic regions: (1) North America, (2) Latin America, (3) Europe, CIS and Africa, which we refer to as “Europe & Africa” and (4) Asia and the Middle East, which we refer to as “Asia”. Three regions, North America, Latin America and Europe & Africa, are engaged in both our Generation and Utility businesses. Our Asia region only has Generation businesses. Accordingly, these businesses and regions account for seven segments. “Corporate and Other” includes corporate overhead costs which are not directly associated with the operations of our seven primary operating segments; interest income and expense; other intercompany charges such as management fees and self-insurance premiums which are fully eliminated in consolidation; and development and operational costs related to our Alternative Energy business which is currently not material to our presentation of operating segments.

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Recent Initiatives

We are developing an Alternative Energy business. Alternative Energy includes strategic initiatives such as wind generation and other renewable energy sources, liquefied natural gas regasification (“LNG”), greenhouse gas emissions offset projects and new technologies. Of these initiatives, we currently only have wind generation facilities that are operational. Our Buffalo Gap wind project, which is located in Texas, began full commercial operations in April 2006. An expansion of Buffalo Gap, called Buffalo Gap 2, is currently under construction. We also acquired wind generation assets in California from Enron Wind Systems. In Europe, we have acquired stakes in wind development businesses in Scotland, France, and Bulgaria.

We currently have three LNG projects that are in pre-construction phases of development. We are also pursuing projects which will allow us to develop greenhouse gas emission offsets. To that end, we have developed a joint venture with AgCert International called AES AgriVerde, which will deploy greenhouse gas emissions reduction technology in selected countries in Asia, Europe and North Africa. Although, Alternative Energy represents a very small portion of our business compared to Utilities and Generation, Alternative Energy is an important initiative in our long-term strategy because we believe it may represent a significant growth opportunity for us.

Some of the important drivers of performance for us developing our alternative energy businesses include continued government support through regulation and incentives, continued progress towards liquid and transparent markets, particularly in the area of greenhouse gas emission credit trading and the successful identification, execution and commercialization of new market opportunities in these nascent markets. While this initiative represents a growth opportunity for us, alternative energy is not material to our financial statements at this time.

Business Overview

We are a global power holding company incorporated in Delaware in 1981. Through our subsidiaries, we operate a portfolio of electricity generation and distribution businesses and investments on five continents and in 27 countries.

Our Businesses

We operate two types of businesses. The first is our distribution and transmission business, which we refer to as Utilities, in which we operate electric utilities and sell power to customers in the retail (including residential), commercial, industrial and governmental sectors. These customers are typically end users of electricity. The second is our Generation business, where we sell power to wholesale customers such as utilities or other intermediaries. The revenues and earnings growth of both our Utilities and Generation businesses vary with changes in electricity demand.

Our Utilities business consists primarily of 13 distribution companies in seven countries with over 10 million end-user customers. All of these companies operate in a defined service area. This segment is composed of:

·       integrated utilities located in:

·        the United States—Indianapolis Power & Light (“IPL”),

·        Cameroon—AES SONEL.

·       distribution companies located in:

·        Brazil—AES Eletropaulo and AES Sul,

·        Argentina—Empresa Distribuidora La Plata S.A. (“EDELAP”), Empresa Distribuidora de Energia Norte (“EDEN”) and Empresa Distribuidora de Energia Sure (“EDES”),

·        El Salvador—Compañia de Alumbrado Eléctrico de San Salvador, S.A. de C.V. (“CAESS”), Compania, S. En C. de C.V. (“AES CLESA”), Distribuidora Electrica de Usulutan, S.A. de C.V. (“DEUSEM”) and Empresa Electrica de Oriente (“EEO”), and

·        Ukraine—Kievoblenergo and Rivneenergo.

Performance drivers for these businesses include, among other things, reliability of service, management of working capital, negotiation of tariff adjustments, compliance with extensive regulatory requirements and, in developing countries, reduction of commercial and technical losses.

Utilities face relatively little direct competition due to significant barriers to entry which are present in these markets. In this segment, we primarily face competition in our efforts to acquire businesses. We compete against a number of other participants, some of which have greater financial resources, have been engaged in distribution related businesses for periods longer than we have, and have accumulated more significant portfolios. Relevant competitive factors for Utilities include financial resources, governmental assistance, regulatory restrictions and access to non-recourse financing. In certain locations, our utilities

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face increased competition as a result of changes in laws and regulations which allow wholesale and retail services to be provided on a competitive basis. We can provide no assurance that deregulation will not adversely affect the future operations, cash flows and financial condition of our Utilities business. The results of operations of our Utilities business are sensitive to changes in economic growth and regulation, abnormal weather conditions in the area in which they operate, as well as the success of the operational changes that have been implemented (especially in emerging markets).

In our Generation business, we generate and sell electricity primarily to wholesale customers. Performance drivers for our Generation business include, among other things, plant reliability, fuel costs and fixed-cost management. Growth in this business is largely tied to securing new power purchase agreements, expanding capacity in our existing facilities and building new power plants. Our Generation business includes our interests in 97 power generation facilities owned or operated under management agreements totaling over 35 gigawatts of capacity installed in 21 countries.

Approximately 68% of the revenues from our Generation business are from plants that operate under power purchase agreements of five years or longer for 75% or more of the output capacity. These long-term contracts reduce the risk associated with volatility in the market price for electricity. We also reduce our exposure to fuel supply risks by entering into long-term fuel supply contracts or through fuel tolling contracts where the customer assumes full responsibility for purchasing and supplying the fuel to the power plant. As a result of these contractual agreements, these facilities have relatively predictable cash flows and earnings. These facilities face most of their competition prior to the execution of a power sales agreement, during the development phase of a project. Our competitors for these contracts include other independent power producers and equipment manufacturers, as well as various utilities and their affiliates. During the operational phase, we traditionally have faced limited competition due to the long-term nature of the generation contracts. However, since competitive power markets have been introduced and new market participants have been added, we have and will continue to encounter increased competition in attracting new customers and maintaining our current customers as our existing contracts expire.

The balance of our Generation business sells power through competitive markets under short term contracts or directly in the spot market. As a result, the cash flows and earnings associated with these facilities are more sensitive to fluctuations in the market price for electricity, natural gas, coal and other fuels. However, for a number of these facilities, including our plants in New York, which include a fleet of low-cost coal fired plants, we have hedged the majority of our exposure to fuel, energy and emissions pricing for the next several years. These facilities compete with numerous other independent power producers, energy marketers and traders, energy merchants, transmission and distribution providers and retail energy suppliers. Competitive factors for these facilities include price, reliability, operational cost and third party credit requirements.

As described above, AES operates within two primary businesses, the generation of electricity and the distribution of electricity. AES previously reported its financial results in three business segments: contract generation, competitive supply and regulated utilities. As of December 31, 2006, we have changed the definition of our segments in order to report information by geographic region and by line of business. We believe this change more accurately reflects the manner in which we manage the Company.

Our businesses include Utilities and Generation within four defined geographic regions: (1) North America, (2) Latin America, (3) Europe, CIS and Africa, which we refer to as “Europe & Africa” and (4) Asia and the Middle East, which we refer to as “Asia”. Three regions, North America, Latin America and Europe & Africa, are engaged in both our Generation and Utility businesses. Our Asia region only has Generation businesses. Accordingly, these businesses and regions account for seven segments. “Corporate and Other” includes corporate overhead costs which are not directly associated with the operations of our seven primary operating segments; interest income and expense; other intercompany charges such as management fees and self-insurance premiums which are fully eliminated in consolidation; and

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development and operational costs related to our Alternative Energy business which is currently not material to our presentation of operating segments.

Recent Initiatives

We are developing an Alternative Energy business. Alternative Energy includes strategic initiatives such as wind generation and other renewable energy sources, liquefied natural gas regasification (“LNG”), greenhouse gas emissions offset projects and new technologies. Of these initiatives, we currently only have wind generation facilities that are operational. Our Buffalo Gap wind project, which is located in Texas, began full commercial operations in April 2006. An expansion of Buffalo Gap, called Buffalo Gap 2, is currently under construction. We also acquired wind generation assets in California from Enron Wind Systems. In Europe, we have acquired stakes in wind development businesses in Scotland, France, and Bulgaria.

We currently have three LNG projects that are in pre-construction phases of development. We are also pursuing projects which will allow us to develop greenhouse gas emission offsets. To that end, we have developed a joint venture with AgCert International called AES AgriVerde, which will deploy greenhouse gas emissions reduction technology in selected countries in Asia, Europe and North Africa. Although, Alternative Energy represents a very small portion of our business compared to Utilities and Generation, Alternative Energy is an important initiative in our long-term strategy because we believe it may represent a significant growth opportunity for us.

Some of the important drivers of performance for us developing our alternative energy businesses include continued government support through regulation and incentives, continued progress towards liquid and transparent markets, particularly in the area of greenhouse gas emission credit trading and the successful identification, execution and commercialization of new market opportunities in these nascent markets. While this initiative represents a growth opportunity for us, alternative energy is not material to our financial statements at this time.