Beautifully engraved certificate from the Calpine Corporation. This historic document was printed by the Security Columbian United States Banknote Company and has an ornate border around it with a vignette of the company logo. This item has the printed signatures of the Company's Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, Peter Cartwright and Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Secretary.
Certificate Vignette Based in San Jose, Calif., Calpine Corporation is an independent power company that is dedicated to providing customers with clean, efficient, natural gas-fired power generation. It generates and markets power through plants it develops, owns and operates in 23 states in the United States, three provinces in Canada and in the United Kingdom. Calpine also is the world's largest producer of renewable geothermal energy, and it owns approximately 1.2 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1984 and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CPN. Calpine's headquarters were permanently moved from San Jose to Houston, Texas in 2009. The company's stock was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CPN until it was delisted on December 5, 2005 due to low share price. On 1/31/08, Calpine emerged from bankruptcy and now trades on the NYSE under the ticker symbol CPN. The company is headquartered in the Calpine Center in Downtown Houston. In response to the 1973 oil crisis and the 1979 energy crisis, much legislation was passed that made domestic energy production an attractive enterprise. In 1984, Peter Cartwright and four of his co-workers, the Guy F. Atkinson Construction Company of South San Francisco, and the Electrowatt corporation struck an investment arrangement and Calpine was born with initial capital of US$1 million. It was essentially a Silicon Valley startup company. The name "Calpine" is derived from the company's California location and alpine, a reference to the Zürich home base of Electrowatt. Calpine is the world's largest provider of geothermal energy, and largest natural gas fueled power producer in North America. As of 2011, the directors of Calpine are J. Stuart Ryan, Frank Cassidy, Jack A. Fusco, Robert C. Hinckley, David C. Merritt, W. Benjamin Moreland, Robert A. Mosbacher, Jr., William E. Oberndorf, and Denise M. O'Leary. In 2004, the directors of Calpine Canada Energy Finance Ulc were Charles B. Clark Jr., Kenneth T. Derr, Jeffery E. Garten, Gerald Greenwald, Susan Schwab, George J. Stathakis, Susan Wang, and John O. Wilson. 1984: provider of management services for independent energy companies 1988: first power production 1992: assets of US $21 billion 1994: 141 MW capacity 1996: largest IPO ever for an independent energy company 1997: purchase of Montis Niger natural gas fields and pipelines in the Sacramento Valley 1998: purchased 45 gas turbine power plants 1999: purchased 18 gas turbine power plants 1999: purchase of Houston's Sheridan Energy, a gas exploration and production company 1999: acquired PG&E's plants at The Geysers, making Calpine the world's largest geothermal provider[7] 2000: 3,355 MW capacity from 58 facilities 2001: Established Canadian headquarters offices in Calgary, Alberta Canada. 2001: purchase of first European facility in the United Kingdom 2001: world's ninth largest electricity producer 2001: stock price exceeds US$50.00 per share 2001: the California electricity crisis 2001: collapse of Enron Corporation 2001: a US$17 billion four-year growth drive with about 50% financing scaled back in face of economic downturn 2002: 13,000 MW capacity 2003: Calgary Energy Centre in Calgary, Alberta Canada goes online. 2004: 22,000 MW capacity; 89 energy centers in 21 states, Canada, and the UK 2004: Investment bank Lehman Brothers begins shorting Calpine, with researcher Christine Daley lacking confidence in the Calpine Chief Financial Officer, the accounting, and the high debt. This information spreads to clients of Lehman. By the time Calpine goes bankrupt in 2005, Lehman will profit roughly $100,000,000 from the short. 2005: November: CEO Peter Cartwright and CFO Bob Kelly are fired. 2005: December 20: Calpine files bankruptcy, US$22 billion in debt. Calpine's aggressive leveraged expansion plan was unsupportable in the economic environment formed by the 2000-2001 California energy crisis and the collapse of Enron. Stock price dropped to less than US$0.30 per share. Delisted from NYSE. 2008: On 1/31/08, Calpine emerges from bankruptcy. Previous stock was exchanged for warrants. New Calpine stock will trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "CPN." 2009: Moved corporate headquarters from San Jose, California to Houston, Texas. 2010: Acquired Conectiv Energy (generation) from Pepco Holdings. History from Wikipedia and OldCompany.com (old stock certificate research service)