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Related party transactions | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2012
Related party transactions |
Related party transactions | 21. Related party transactions Prior to December 31, 2009, Atlantic Power was managed by Atlantic Power Management, LLC (the "Manager"), which was owned by two private equity funds managed by Arclight Capital Partners, LLC ("ArcLight"). On December 31, 2009, we terminated our management agreements with the Manager and agreed to pay ArcLight an aggregate of $15.0 million, to be satisfied by a payment of $6.0 million that was made at the termination date, and additional payments of $5.0 million, $3.0 million and $1.0 million on the respective first, second and third anniversaries of the termination date. We have now paid all amounts owed to ArcLight in connection with the termination of the management agreement. We recorded the remaining liability associated with the termination fee at its estimated fair value of $0.9 million at December 31, 2011. As of December 31, 2012, all payments to ArcLight have been made and no further liability remains on our balance sheet. During 2010, we made a short-term $22.8 million loan to Idaho Wind to provide temporary funding for construction of the project until a portion of the project-level construction financing was completed. As of December 31, 2011, the project repaid the loan in full with a combination of excess proceeds from the federal stimulus cash grant after repaying the cash grant facility, funds from a third closing for additional debt, and project cash flow. We received $1.6 million of interest income related to this loan in the year ended December 31, 2011.

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- Definition The entire disclosure for related party transactions. Examples of related party transactions include transactions between (a) a parent company and its subsidiary; (b) subsidiaries of a common parent; (c) and entity and its principal owners; and (d) affiliates. + References Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 850 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 6 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39691-107864 Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 850 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39622-107864 Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 850 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864 Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Statement of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) -Number 57 -Paragraph 1-4 -LegacyDoc This reference is SUPERSEDED by the Accounting Standards Codification effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. This reference is included to help users transition from the previous accounting hierarchy and will be removed from future versions of this taxonomy. Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 850 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 3 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39603-107864 Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 850 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 5 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39678-107864 Reference 7: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -SubTopic 10 -Section S99 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (SX 210.4-08.(k)) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6881521&loc=d3e23780-122690 Reference 8: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 04 -Paragraph b -Article 3A Reference 9: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Regulation S-X (SX) -Number 210 -Section 08 -Paragraph k -Article 4 + Details
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