Duke Energy reported on Monday it would be willing to acceptless money for the power it sold in California during January andFebruary, as long as assurances are made by the CaliforniaIndependent System Operator (Cal-ISO) and the California PowerExchange (Cal-PX) that it will be paid. Duke said if guarantees aremade, it will waive the credit premiums on its bids and accept theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) clearing price fortransactions during those months.

Currently, Duke said it has received a very small percentage ofthe monies owed by the Cal-ISO and the Cal-PX, proving that thecredit premiums attached to its power bids were warranted.

Duke’s filing with FERC late last week came in response toaccusations from the Commission that some companies had takenadvantage of the tumultuous situation in California by overchargingpower customers during Stage Three emergencies. Earlier thismonth,FERC issued an order requiring electricity suppliers in Californiato refund or offset prices that exceed the FERC-determined marketclearing price, or submit information supporting their bid prices.During January and February, Duke attached a commercially basedcredit premium to its bids to cover the risk of non-payment thatexisted at the time.

“We cannot lose sight of the fact that most energy suppliershave yet to be paid for a substantial amount of the energy consumedin California in January and February,” said Jim Donnell, CEO ofDuke Energy North America.

“The prices bid by Duke Energy reflect the continued uncertaintyover whether we will be paid,” said Donnell. “Such risk premiumsare standard business practice. We could be willing to foregocollection of the credit premiums for these months, provided wewere paid the FERC clearing price. If we are not assured payment,the credit premiums are obviously appropriate, and we would reserveour right to collect the entire amount of the bids that are subjectto the FERC order.”

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