TXU Electric, a wholly owned subsidiary of TXU, received apartial ruling from the Texas District Court of Travis County thisweek regarding its appeal of a financing order of the PublicUtility Commission of Texas (PUCT). The PUCT order authorizessecuritization of regulatory assets under Senate Bill No. 7, Texaslegislation that restructures the electric industry and authorizesretail competition. Securitization of regulatory assets is a tooladopted by the bill to provide a low-cost way for the electricindustry to transition to a competitive environment. The districtcourt gave a partial ruling reversing that part of PUCT’s financingorder that used regulated asset life (up to 40 years) for purposesof present-valuing the benefits of securitization. The court ruledthat present-value period based on asset life did not conform tothe applicable statute. Instead, it believed that a present-valueperiod based upon stranded cost and regulatory asset recoveryperiod should have been used by PUCT. The court did not set a valueperiod to be used, but said that PUCT could, for example, use thealternative 12-year discounting period contained in its financingorder with the amount to be securitized by TXU Electric increasedto $1.3 billion from $363 million. A final ruling from the court isdue Sept. 5.

Southern California Edison (SCE) in an attempt to ease the powercrunch this summer, settled on an agreement with Thermo Ecotek thatwill allow the utility to lease and return to operation a 120 MWnatural gas-fired power plant that currently sits idle. SCE plansto have the plant fully operational by early September to help withthe late summer demand peak. “We’re trying to do everything we canto bring solutions to the power supply dilemma in California,” saidStephen E. Frank, CEO of SCE. “That includes exhausting localalternatives, negotiating new agreements, and effectively managingevery available generating asset that can benefit consumers.” The”standby” plant was operated by Massachusetts-based Thermo Ecoteklast summer, but has been idle this entire summer to date.

Minnesota Power on Friday began doing business as Allete, a namethe company says better reflects its evolution from a utility to amore diversified corporation. The company’s regulated electricbusiness will continue to be called Minnesota Power. “With diverse,profitable and growing businesses operating in 39 states and eightCanadian provinces, we are clearly more than Minnesota and morethan power,” said Chairman Ed Russell.Shareholders will be asked toformalize the name change during the company’s annual meeting nextMay 8. The company will begin trading on New York Stock Exchangeunder the ticker symbol ALE.

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