Consolidated Edison Inc. confirmed Feb. 18 that it will "explore strategic alternatives" for its unregulated Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses Inc. subsidiary.

The New York-headquartered investor-owned utility first disclosed its planned strategic evaluation in fourth-quarter 2021 and year-end earnings materials released Feb. 17. The company did not provide details about whether a full unit sale, spinoff or asset sales are part of the review.

Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, or CEB, operates through three subsidiaries: Con Edison Energy Inc., Consolidated Edison Development Inc. and Consolidated Edison Solutions Inc.

Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. analyst Andrew Weisel said Con Edison's plan to maximize value from CEB "seems like a good strategy to us" despite the firm forecasting 7% to 10% annual earnings growth for the subsidiary.

"CEB's backlog of projects is large enough that management sees ample opportunity to continue to [develop projects and transfer to third parties], supporting future earnings growth," Weisel wrote in a Feb. 18 research report. "That said, management is evaluating strategic alternatives for the portfolio as a whole as the company doesn't believe that the stock reflects the value of the business. We see a sale as reasonably likely, the proceeds from which could reduce [Con Edison's] equity needs."

The clean energy unit has about 3,000 MW of planned and operating solar and wind projects in its portfolio sited in markets throughout the U.S., according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. In addition, Consolidated Edison Development's 150-MW Timberwolf Battery Storage 2 project is in early development in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. market.