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The transaction includes the sale of six fully contracted wind and solar assets in Ontario with an average contract life of approximately 16 years and a combined total generating capacity of approximately 396 megawatts. The assets are wind generators Bluewater, Conestogo, Jericho, and Summerhaven, and solar generators Moore and Sombra.

For its part, CPPIB said the purchase gives it immediate scale in a sector where it wants to grow.

“Since December 2017, CPPIB has committed to wind and solar investments in Brazil, India and now Canada,” said Bruce Hogg, managing director and head of power and renewables.

“As power demand grows worldwide and with a focus on accelerating the energy transition, we will continue to seek opportunities to expand our power and renewables portfolio globally.”

Dan Tsubouchi, chief market strategist at Stream Asset Financial Management LP in Calgary, said the NextEra deal is the first he’s seen in the energy sector related specifically to taxation, but it should surprise no one and is likely the first of many.

Murphy Oil Corp. has also said it would repatriate Canadian retained earnings and that it sees the substantially lower tax rate in the U.S. as a big advantage for capital reinvestment.

Oil and gas companies with assets in Canada waited for the Canadian government to respond to U.S. tax reforms in the federal budget but when “it offered nothing on tax competitiveness,” the next step was to look at redeploying their capital, he said. In addition to reducing corporate taxes, the U.S. is allowing companies to immediately write off the full cost of new machinery and equipment, making the U.S. advantages hard to resist, Tsubouchi said.