announced its thirdsolar acquisition in less than a week after it said it was in a deal topurchase the 74-MW Rutherford facility in North Carolina from .

As with its previous two deals, the company did not disclose commercial terms.Cypress Creek will continue to develop the 489-acre facility in RutherfordCounty, N.C., which is expected to achieve commercial operations in Decemberand is covered by a long-term power purchase agreement with subsidiaryDuke Energy CarolinasLLC.

Cypress Creek will serve as the operations and maintenancecontractor of the facility. "The Rutherford project fits Southern Power'sbusiness strategy of growing its wholesale business through the acquisition andconstruction of generating assets substantially covered by long-termcontracts," Southern Co. said in a July 8 news release, noting that thisacquisition is being made by its subsidiary Southern Power Co. in conjunction with . This is the10th solar project Southern is acquiring in partnership with Turner Renewable.