Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. My name is Ken Moore, and I'm the Chair of Algonquin's Board of Directors. This year, out of an abundance of caution and to mitigate risks to the health and safety of our communities, shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders, the meeting is once again being held in a virtual-only format through the Lumi virtual meeting platform. This platform is accessible to all of our shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders regardless of their physical location, and allows our registered shareholders and duly appointed proxy holders to participate, submit questions, and vote upon the matters before us today. We're hopeful that we'll be able to host an in-person meeting of our shareholders next year.
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Algonquin's resilient business model and emergency preparedness have allowed us to continue providing essential services to our customers and communities in a safe, reliable, and efficient manner. We have effectively met the challenges brought on by COVID-19 and are tremendously proud of our dedicated employees for their exemplary response across the communities we serve. I want to thank each and every one of our employees for their hard work and efforts throughout the pandemic. They make our mission of sustaining energy and water for life a reality every day. Before I start the meeting, I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the retirement this year of one of our long-serving Board members, Chris Ball.
Chris is not standing for re-election today and will be retiring at the close of this meeting after having served on our Board for 13 years and as a trustee of our predecessor entity, Algonquin Power Income Fund. On behalf of the Board and the company, I'd like to thank Chris for his long-standing service to the organization and the many contributions he's made as a member of the Board and as Chair of our Audit Committee. Now let's turn to the formal business of the annual meeting. Participating in this virtual meeting with me are Chris Ball, Arun Banskota, Melissa Stapleton Barnes, Daniel Goldberg, Chris Huskilson, Randy Laney, Masheed Saidi, and Dilek Samil, who are current Directors of the company. Arun Banskota is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of the company.
Also present from the company, in addition to Arun, are Arthur Kacprzak, Chief Financial Officer, Jennifer Tindale, Chief Legal Officer, and Dana Easthope, Vice President and Assistant Corporate Secretary. I now officially call the meeting to order. I will chair the meeting and appoint Dana Easthope to act as secretary of the meeting and representatives of TSX Trust Company to act as scrutineers for the meeting. Given the virtual format of today's meeting, we request that shareholders or proxy holders who have comments or questions on a formal item of business make such written submissions now, clearly identifying the applicable item of formal business to which the comment or question applies. During the course of the meeting, at the appropriate time, such submissions will be addressed prior to voting on the applicable motions.
If shareholders, proxy holders or guests have any questions not specifically relating to an item of formal business, they can submit those questions at any time by clicking on the question icon and typing in their question. We'll do our best to address those questions in a Q&A session following remarks from Arun after the conclusion of the formal business. Given this is a virtual meeting, the voting today will be conducted by online ballot for all matters. If, as a registered shareholder or duly appointed proxy holder, you've used your control number to log into the meeting and you accepted the terms and conditions of the meeting, you will be provided the opportunity to vote by online ballot. If you have already voted by proxy and you vote again by online ballot during the meeting, your online vote during the meeting will revoke your previously submitted proxy.
Accordingly, if you have already voted by proxy and do not wish to revoke your previously submitted proxy, do not vote again during the online ballot. The polls will be open for all items of business to be voted on at the same time. This will allow you to vote on each item immediately, or if you prefer, you may wait until the conclusion of discussion on each item prior to casting your vote. The items of business to be voted on and your available voting options will be visible on the voting panel on your screen. To submit a vote, please click on the applicable voting choice displayed on your screen. Once discussion has concluded on all items of business, we'll provide some additional time to enter your votes. I will then declare voting closed on all matters of business.
The results of the vote on each matter will be announced prior to the close of the meeting. I now declare the online voting polls open on all items of business. Based on the scrutineer's report, proxies were received from the holders of a sufficient number of common shares to constitute a quorum. I therefore declare that the meeting is properly constituted for the transaction of business. The final reports on attendance will be retained with the records of the company. Pursuant to an exemption order obtained by the company under the Canada Business Corporations Act, the company has used notice and access to send a notice calling this meeting and other requisite meeting materials to each intermediary and registered holder of common shares of the company as of April 11th, 2022 , the record date for the meeting.
These materials have also been provided to each of the directors and the company's auditor. I direct that the confirmation of delivery of the notice of the meeting received from TSX Trust Company and the scrutineer's complete report on attendance be annexed to the minutes of the meeting. Copies of materials are available on the company's website and on our SEDAR profile at sedar.com. Accordingly, with the consent of the meeting, I will dispense with the reading of the notice of meeting. The first item of business is a presentation of the company's 2021 annual report, containing the company's audited financial statements for the year ended December 31st, 2021. I direct that the financial statements and auditor's report be attached as a schedule to the minutes of the meeting. Unless there is an objection, I will dispense with the reading of the auditor's report.
If any shareholders have questions relating to the financial statements, these questions can be submitted at any time and will be addressed after the formal business concludes when Arun provides an overview of the company's activities. The next item of business is the reappointment of the auditor of the company. May I have a motion that Ernst & Young LLP be reappointed as auditor of the company until the end of the next annual meeting of shareholders, or until a successor is duly appointed.
My name is Dana Easthope, and I so move.
Would anyone care to second the motion?
My name is Arthur Kacprzak, and I second the motion.
Thank you. In order to be carried, the motion must be passed by a majority of the votes cast. At this time, we'd ask the moderator to please advise of any questions that have been received on this matter from the participants in this meeting.
Mr. Chair, I confirm we did not receive any questions in relation to this matter.
No comments or questions having been received, we'll conduct a vote by way of online ballot pursuant to the procedures I previously stated. We will now proceed with the election of Directors. The company's articles provide that the Board of Directors is to determine from time to time the number of directors within the minimum and maximum numbers provided for in the articles. The Board has determined the number of Directors to be elected at the meeting to be nine. As described in the Management Information Circular for the meeting, under the majority voting policy adopted by the Board, where a nominee is not elected by at least a majority of the votes cast, that director must immediately tender his or her resignation.
In such instance, the Corporate Governance Committee will, within 90 days of the shareholders' meeting, determine whether to accept the resignation, which, absent exceptional circumstances, should be accepted. The resignation will become effective when accepted by the Board. In the interest of expediency, I would like to call on Arthur Kacprzak to make the nominations on behalf of management of the company.
I nominate the individuals named in the Management Information Circular to stand for elections as directors of the company. Namely, Arun Banskota, Melissa Stapleton Barnes, Amee Chande, Daniel Goldberg, Christopher Huskilson, D. Randy Laney, Kenneth Moore, Masheed Saidi, and Dilek Samil.
Particulars of these nine nominees for whom, in the absence of instructions to the contrary, management proxies will be voted, are set out in the Management Information Circular. These nominees have accepted their nominations. If elected, these nominees will hold office until the end of the next Annual Meeting of Shareholders, or until their successors are elected or appointed in accordance with the articles and bylaws of the company. Pursuant to our advanced notice bylaw, there have been no director nominations put forward other than the directors nominated on behalf of management, as set out in our Management Information Circular. Accordingly, I declare the nominations closed. May I have a motion for the election of the nine persons nominated as directors?
My name is Dana Easthope, and I so move.
Would anyone care to second the motion?
My name is Arthur Kacprzak, and I second the motion.
Thank you. At this time, we'd ask the moderator to please advise of any questions that have been received on this matter from the participants in this meeting.
Mr. Chair, I confirm we did not receive any questions in relation to this matter.
No comments or questions having been received, we will conduct a vote by way of online ballot pursuant to the procedures I previously stated. In accordance with the company's majority voting policy, we have individual voting for directors. The next item of business relates to the unallocated options under the company's stock option plan.
The stock option plan provides that the aggregate number of common shares of the company that may be reserved for issuance upon the exercise of all options granted under the plan, together with common shares issuable pursuant to grants under all other securities-based compensation arrangements of the company, shall not exceed 8% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the company on the date such option is granted. Pursuant to the rules of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the company is required to seek shareholder approval of the unallocated stock options under the plan every three years. The text of the resolution approving the unallocated options is set out in Schedule A to the Management's Information Circular. If not approved, the company may not grant any options under the stock option plan until shareholder approval is obtained in the future.
In order to be effective, the resolution must be approved by a simple majority of votes cast. May I have a motion that the resolution to approve the unallocated options under the company's stock option plan, as set out in the management information circular, be approved?
My name is Dana Easthope and I so move.
Would anyone like to second the motion?
My name is Arthur Kacprzak, and I second the motion.
Thank you. At this time, we'd ask the moderator to please advise of any questions that have been received on this matter from the participants of this meeting.
Mr. Chair, I confirm that we did not receive any questions in relation to the matter.
No comments or questions having been received, we'll conduct a vote by way of online ballot pursuant to the procedures I previously stated. As described in the Management Information Circular, in 2012, the Board of Directors adopted a policy to provide shareholders with an annual advisory vote on executive compensation based on the model Say- on- Pay for Board of Directors, published by the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance. The text of the advisory resolution is set out in Schedule D to the management information circular. A simple majority of the votes cast is required for approval of the advisory resolution. Although the results of an advisory resolution are not binding on the Board of Directors, the Board will take into account the results of the vote, together with other feedback from shareholders in considering its approach to executive compensation in the future.
May I have a motion that the resolution to approve the approach to executive compensation disclosed in a management information circular, as set forth in Schedule D to the management information circular, be approved.
My name is Dana Easthope, and I so move.
Would anyone like to second the motion?
My name is Arthur Kacprzak, and I second the motion.
Thank you. At this time, we would ask the moderator to please advise of any questions that have been received on this matter from the participants in this meeting.
Mr. Chair, I confirm that we did not receive any questions in relation to this matter.
No further comments or questions having been received, we'll conduct a vote by way of online ballot pursuant to the procedures I previously stated. The next item of business relates to the continuation, amendment, and restatement of the company's shareholder rights plan. The rights plan must be presented for approval by shareholders every three years and was most recently approved in 2019. The rights plan is not being presented for approval at this meeting in response to or in anticipation of any pending takeover bid or to deter takeover bids generally. No material amendments are being proposed to the rights plan.
The text of the resolution approving the continuation, amendment, and restatement of the rights plan is set out in Schedule E to the Management Information Circular, and a version of the rights plan showing the proposed technical and administrative amendments is set out in Schedule G to the Management Information Circular. If approved, the rights plan will remain in effect and be presented for reconfirmation at the 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. If not approved, the rights plan will terminate at the conclusion of this meeting. In order to be effective, the resolution approving the rights plan must be approved by a simple majority of votes cast. May I have a motion that the resolution to approve the continuance, amendment, and restatement of the company's shareholder rights plan, as described in the Management Information Circular, be approved?
My name is Dana Easthope, and I so move. Would anyone like to second the motion?
My name is Arthur Kacprzak, and I second the motion.
Thank you. At this time, we'd ask the moderator to please advise of any questions that have been received on this matter from participants in this meeting.
Mr. Chair, I confirm we did not receive any questions in relation to this matter.
No comments or questions having been received, we'll conduct a vote by way of online ballot pursuant to the procedures I previously stated. It is now 4:17 P.M. The online ballots on all items of business will close at 4:18 P.M. For those of you who have not yet voted on all of the items of business, please do so now. We'll take a short pause while the polls close and the results are tabulated by the scrutineers. I confirm the online ballots are now closed and the scrutineers have tabulated the results. I'm pleased to confirm that the scrutineers have reported to me that all matters put to a ballot have been passed with the requisite shareholder approval. Accordingly, I declare that the motion on the reappointment of the company's auditor has passed. I declare each of the nine nominees to the Board of Directors elected.
I declare that the resolution approving the unallocated options under the stock option plan has passed. I declare that the advisory resolution to approve the approach to executive compensation has passed. I declare that the resolution approving the continuation, amendment, and restatement of the company's shareholder rights plan has passed. A report disclosing the voting results on each item of business at the meeting will be filed on SEDAR and disclosed in a press release promptly following the meeting. Is there any other formal business that may properly be brought before this meeting?
Mr. Chair, I confirm we did not receive any requests for other formal business.
Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal business portion of the meeting. I wish to thank you for attending and I now declare this meeting to be terminated. We will now continue with a presentation from Arun Banskota relating to the company's activities. Following this presentation, management of the company in attendance will be pleased to answer any questions you may have about the company. I would now like to turn things over to Arun.
Thank you, Ken. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our third virtual Annual General Meeting. On behalf of Algonquin, I would like to welcome our shareholders and thank you for your time and interest. I would like to use this opportunity to provide an update on the company's performance, strategic direction in light of critical trends, and exciting growth prospects in front of us. Before getting into the presentation, I want to make our legal team happy by highlighting that our discussion during the management presentation will include certain forward-looking information and non-GAAP financial measures. At the end of the presentation, we will post a slide containing important information about these items. Reference can also be made to our most recent annual and interim MD&A filed on SEDAR and EDGAR for additional information on these items. Now, let's get on with the presentation.
Looking at the agenda for this section of the meeting, I'm going to take 15 minutes or so to provide an overview of our business, provide a summary of our financial performance in 2021, highlight some of our more notable strategic achievements, discuss our three strategic pillars of growth, operational excellence, and sustainability, and lastly, wrap up with our future growth plans. First, allow me to spend a few minutes discussing our business profile. Algonquin/ Liberty is a North American energy and water company providing mission-critical electricity, water, and natural gas services across both regulated and renewable businesses. Currently, our portfolio comprises of approximately 70% regulated utilities, moving to an expected 80% of our portfolio, assuming the closing of our acquisition of Kentucky Power.
We operate in 16 jurisdictions across all three modalities of electric, water, and natural gas, and we service over 1 million customer connections, which translates to approximately 3 million customers if you assume three customers per connection. Our renewable business currently represents approximately 30% of our portfolio. At the end of 2021, the business directly owned and operated 2,300 MW of net renewable generation capacity, of which approximately 81% was contracted with a weighted average remaining contract length of 12 years. Across both businesses, we own, operate, and have net interest in over 4,000 MW of renewable power generation. We initiated a number of initiatives in 2021 that will position us extremely well for the future. We embarked on an ambitious set of goals, and I'm pleased to say that we have largely delivered on many of our priorities.
Our employees are the reason for the significant progress we have made in 2021, and these successes are a testament to our entrepreneurial spirit, owner mindset, and customer-centric approach. This, combined with our culture of teamwork and inclusion, translates into delivered results and creation of consistent shareholder value. Turning to the next slide, I'd like to highlight a few financial metrics in 2021. I'm pleased to report strong year-over-year growth in the following key financial metrics. Adjusted EBITDA of nearly $1.1 billion, a 24% year-over-year increase. Our 2021 adjusted net earnings per share of $0.71 was up 11% from the $0.64 reported in the prior year. We exited the year with approximately $16.8 billion in assets, a 27% increase over the previous year.
The company undertook a number of successful growth initiatives and continued to execute on a number of strategic priorities in 2021. We have been able to deliver an outstanding track record of long-term share performance. Over the last five and 10 years, we have delivered 101% and 350%, respectively, in total shareholder returns, outperforming key market and utility sector peer group averages. Also, we delivered an adjusted net EPS CAGR of 11.1% from 2017 through to the end of 2021. We are very mindful of the important role our dividend plays in the total return expectations of our shareholders. We were pleased that the growth in our EPS has supported the continued growth in our dividends. In 2021, Algonquin increased its annual dividends by 10% from the previous year.
Earlier this year, our Board approved a further 6% increase for this year. This increase marks the 12th year of consistently increasing dividends every year, demonstrating our collective confidence in our resilient business model. The company undertook many successful growth initiatives and achieved numerous milestones in 2021. We continue to focus our efforts on Algonquin's three strategic pillars, growth, operational excellence, and sustainability, and I will spend some time on each pillar. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, we operate through two primary businesses, regulated and renewables. A key differentiator for us is a number of growth levers across our two businesses, which we expect will allow us to deliver superior results and returns in capital, EPS growth, capital deployment, and other measures of shareholder performance. I will speak to the growth levers on each side of our business.
Firstly, on the regulated side, one lever of growth is our organic investments in improving the safety and reliability of our mission-critical infrastructure. This includes replacing aging infrastructure, including pipes, wires, and poles, in an effort to ensure we can continue to provide safe and reliable service, providing significant value to customers. In fact, this has been our largest growth lever, which we try to balance with customer bill impacts as affordability is a key priority for our customers and for us. As we deploy this necessary capital, we keep a very close eye on managing our operating costs. Another lever of growth is optimizing performance. The company is able to successfully take on and deliver on key turnaround opportunities. This includes maximizing performance within our regulatory frameworks, retrofitting and investing in our asset base to support a sustainable future.
Because we serve customers across 16 jurisdictions, we are able to learn, benchmark, and deploy best practices among our utilities. A third lever of growth as we transition to lower carbon energy is our greening of fleet initiatives, which we have successfully demonstrated at both CalPeco and Empire District, enabling us to replace older fossil fuel assets with cleaner renewables to deliver sustainable energy options to our customers. Another lever of growth is our disciplined approach to acquisitions. In 2021, we announced a $2.8 billion acquisition of Kentucky Power, a fully regulated electric utility, and Kentucky Transmission Company, an electricity transmission business. We expect to close this transaction in mid-2022 after satisfaction of all closing conditions.
Earlier this year, we closed on the New York American Water transaction and now serve over 125,000 customer connections across seven counties in southeastern New York for their water needs. On the renewable side, we also have multiple growth levers. Greenfield development. In this business, our ability to originate and execute projects is a key critical growth lever. 2021 was a record year for Algonquin, with nearly 1,200 MW of new renewable projects brought online. We also have a 3,800 MW prospective greenfield pipeline, which I'll discuss in more detail later. Algonquin remains very well-positioned in the commercial and industrial, or C&I space, where important long-term customers are supporting renewables growth as they are looking to achieve their own sustainability goals. Last year, we collaborated with JP Morgan as the offtaker for our Shady Oaks II wind project.
More recently, we continued our partnership with Meta, who signed a long-term power purchase agreement for the Deerfield II wind project in Michigan. Our partnership with Chevron continues to progress on several renewable projects. We also have future levers of growth in terms of emerging technology. We already own and operate 13.5 MWh of battery storage in our regulated business. We continue to grow and make progress on our renewable natural gas projects with the acquisition of Sandhill, a renewable natural gas platform in Wisconsin, which includes both operational and development projects. We plan to build on this experience. In a mission-critical industry like ours, safety is always an area of focus. Our employees are our most critical resource, and we want them to go home safely to their families each evening.
At the end of 2021, I'm pleased to report that we passed the impressive milestone of 10 million hours worked without a single lost time injury. This is truly fantastic performance that we remain laser-focused on sustaining. We are pleased with the acknowledgement from the American Gas Association, awarding us with the best safety performance record in the medium combination utilities category. On the regulated side, we saw a 17-point improvement in our J.D. Power customer satisfaction scores from 686- 703 in 2021, as well as solid improvements in our reliability metrics. While on the renewable side, our focus continues to be on maximizing production. 2021 marked the first full year of contribution from the Bermuda Electric Company and ESSAL in Chile, together bringing on nearly 300,000 new customer connections.
I'm pleased to share that they both had solid first years. The integration of these two utilities into the Algonquin/ Liberty family has gone well and as per plan. As with our previously acquired utilities, we strive to share learnings amongst our utilities with the aim of driving consistent improvement in our key performance metrics that drive value for our customers and investors. Each asset we bring on, we benchmark and compare with our existing assets, looking for opportunities to learn from each other. Managing operation cost is critical to effective and efficient provision of affordable electric, water, and gas services to our customers. Our operating cost as a percentage of total revenues has decreased from 66% back in 2012 to approximately 41% in 2021, a significant achievement. We see a path to lowering that number to 35% by 2026.
Our multi-jurisdictional model also helps us on the regulatory front. We are able to leverage our local regulatory experience across our jurisdictions to minimize regulatory lag, as well as assist in securing key regulatory mechanisms. These mechanisms have helped the returns of individual utilities, but it is really our portfolio approach that allows us to deliver a more stable set of returns, delivering close to our allowed returns on average across the portfolio. Finally, we remain firmly committed to sustainability through the inclusion of environmental, social, and governance or ESG values in our broader corporate strategy and day-to-day operations. As evidence of our ongoing commitment to sustainability initiatives in 2021, we announced our commitment for net zero for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050.
The achievement of our net zero target is supported by our strong decarbonization track record and experience in regulated utility management and renewables development. We have a proven track record in greening the fleet and in decarbonizing utilities. Our efforts to date are reflected in our low carbon emissions intensity of 0.0013. Our carbon dioxide emissions for every $1 of 2020 revenue. Between 2017 to end 2020, we reduced our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 31%. We published our 2021 sustainability report, and we've increased our data disclosure levels. We have also established an ESG data hub on our website, where you can access a broad range of ESG related data and analytics. We remain committed to continuing our leadership and sustainable business practices and the decarbonization of our business.
I would like to conclude by giving an update on our growth initiatives and capital plan. At our December Investor Day, we updated our five-year capital investment program, which projects $12.4 billion from 2022 through the end of 2026 to be spent across our two business groups. We also announced a 3,800 MW prospective greenfield pipeline and introduced a new prospective pipeline of storage opportunities of 1,700 MWh for the first time. For context, at Investor Day 2020, we had unveiled a 3,400 MW inaugural prospective greenfield pipeline. We have since converted 600 MW from that greenfield pipeline into our new five-year capital plan, while simultaneously growing the net greenfield backlog to 3,800 MW. This offers strong preliminary validation for our ability to both grow and create value from this greenfield pipeline.
Currently, we own or have investments in over 4,000 MW of renewable generation, which provides us with scale. With increased scale, we expect to get incremental benefits, including improved negotiating power, lower transaction costs, and access to greater opportunities. We now plan to continue investing in growing this prospective greenfield pipeline, developing viable projects through construction to the operational stage. Once in operations, we see an opportunity to partner with institutional investors wishing to make alternate sustainable investments and who are seeking a partner with a proven ability to develop and deliver on long-term contracted sustainable assets. More specifically, we should be able to monetize to these investors while earning an operating fee. We could then deploy some or all of the capital gains in further greenfield development, creating a potential new recurring source of earnings for our investors.
We are excited about this growth potential and believe that we have a once in a generation opportunity to accelerate renewables growth and add shareholder value. We have formally initiated this sell-down initiative for the inaugural 750 MW portfolio of assets and plan to explore other asset recycling transactions on a fairly recurring cadence. We remain confident in closing the Kentucky Power transaction. We have received the approval of the Kentucky Public Service Commission and are awaiting the approvals from the West Virginia Commission and FERC on specific portions of the transaction. With our local operating model, we believe Algonquin/ Liberty is well-positioned to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective electric services to Kentucky Power customers.
We also believe that with the expected future retirement and contract expiry of over 1,200 MW of coal generation, there is significant opportunity to add lower cost generation to support local jobs, investments, and municipal tax base. Before we open the lines for the question and answer period, we remain very excited about Algonquin's businesses and prospects. With a continued focus and execution on our three strategic pillars, we have been able to deliver an outstanding track record of performance. We have a history of providing excellent value to our shareholders, and we remain well-positioned to continue this in the future as we have multiple levers of growth across both our regulated and renewables businesses.
We're very proud of all that we accomplished last year, but are even more excited at what lies in store, given that we are going through a period of the greatest decarbonization transformation and sustainable investments in the energy and water industries. Both our regulated and renewable businesses are very well-positioned to benefit over the coming years.
We would now like to invite questions from those participating in the meeting. If you wish to ask a question, please click on the question icon, type in, and submit your question.
Arun, we do have a question in for you. The ask is for a bit more of an explanation of the rationale for the Kentucky Power acquisition and perhaps also a description of next steps.
Sure. Thank you. I'm happy to expand on that further. Look, we believe that Kentucky Power represents a very good strategic fit for Algonquin. Kentucky Power is a vertically integrated electric utility. With this acquisition, our business mix increases to 80% regulated, which we believe will result in a lower business risk profile. This increased business mix also allows us the flexibility to grow our renewable business while maintaining our strong balance sheet metrics. This acquisition also adds significantly to our electric utility mix and allows us the opportunity to explore several areas of growth, including the opportunity to perhaps replace over 1,200 MW of coal generation that is either being retired or whose purchase agreement expires. Working with the Kentucky Commission, we could possibly invest in cleaner generation that has lower operating costs.
We could avoid the volatility of fossil fuels and provide even better customer value while investing in the local communities. As you know, this is an important lever of growth for us and an area where we have a strong track record through the transition of our Empire and CalPeco utilities. We also believe our local operating model can add value to the Kentucky Power customers. While integrating new acquisitions into the Liberty Family, we look to optimize operations, implement best-in-class benchmarking, and share best practices. Similar with previous acquisitions, we plan to utilize our local customer-centric operation model and develop constructive relationships in the local community. Now, as to the next steps, on May 4th, the Kentucky Public Service Commission approved this transaction with some conditions, and this approval was a key step required to complete the transaction.
As a reminder, on the previous day, May 3rd, the Kentucky Public Service Commission issued another approval necessary for the transaction. That was for a revised ownership and operating agreement for the Mitchell Plant. Now, the West Virginia Public Service Commission and FERC will also need to approve the Mitchell agreement. Also, there's quite a bunch of other agreements that are required, but on those we've already received Hart-Scott-Rodino, FERC, and CFIUS approvals. We continually expect to close this transaction in mid-2022 after satisfying all of the closing conditions. Finally, we'll continue to work collaboratively with AEP, and we look forward to bringing the benefits to customers and communities in East Kentucky from this proposed transaction.
Thank you for that, Arun. On a different topic, we have a question asking for some further information on the company's asset recycling initiatives.
Sure. Great question, and happy to answer that one as well, expanding further on my prepared narratives. Let me first give you a little bit of context. We do believe that we have a once in a generation opportunity to accelerate the growth of renewable generation and add to shareholder value. With the larger society, governments, and businesses increasingly aligned around a net zero 2050 goal, we believe there is significant opportunity to invest in all elements of decarbonization. We have positioned Algonquin very well with the number of growth levers spanning utility-scale wind and solar, community solar, battery storage, renewable natural gas, and behind-the-meter solutions. The plan is to increase and accelerate our investments in greenfield development to serve the continued strong demand for renewable energy.
This should allow us to capture the higher development margins and take these projects through siting, interconnection, permitting, financing, and finally, construction. Now, once these renewable assets are in operation, we see an opportunity to partner with institutional investors and potentially sell down a portion to these investors while earning an operating and management fee. We could then deploy some or all of the capital gains in further greenfield development, creating a potential new recurring source of earnings for our investors. With scaling operations, we get incremental benefits, including improved negotiating power, lower transaction costs, and access to greater opportunities. I mean, you can think of this as a flywheel impact, right?
Increased development to capture the higher upfront margins, de-risk the projects through development and construction, add long-term offtake contracts, sell down to realize the development margins, create recurring operating and management fees, and utilize the capital gains to further accelerate development. As I mentioned in my earlier remarks, we have formally commenced our inaugural renewable asset recycling process with a portfolio of U.S. and Canadian assets in the range of approximately 750 MW, and we plan to close the transaction this year.
All right. Thank you. There are no further questions at this time, and so I'm going to pass the mic back over to Ken Moore, our Chairman.
On behalf of the Board and management of the company, I'd like to thank all of our shareholders as well as others who have joined us today for your support and your attendance at this meeting. Thank you.