Financing

With the financing and regulatory steps now in place to pay off $11.7 billion to creditors, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in three weeks should exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after three years, “turning a corner to a period of significant stability,” Robert Glynn, CEO of the utility’s parent company, PG&E Corp., told a Wall Street audience Wednesday at the Morgan Stanley Global Electricity & Energy Conference.

The trial of three former Dynegy Inc. executives involved in the financing scheme Project Alpha is expected to begin Aug. 4 and last at least eight weeks, attorneys said last week. Jamie Olis, 37, Gene Shannon Foster, 44, and Helen Christine Sharkey, 31, pleaded innocent in separate appearances before a Houston judge last Tuesday.

The trial of three former Dynegy Inc. executives involved in the financing scheme Project Alpha is expected to begin Aug. 4 and last at least eight weeks, attorneys said Tuesday. Jamie Olis, 37, Gene Shannon Foster, 44, and Helen Christine Sharkey, 31, pleaded innocent in separate appearances before a Houston judge.

Several favorable actions and events led Fitch Ratings to give Dynegy Inc. and its affiliates a “stable” outlook on Thursday, removing the energy merchant from Rating Watch Negative for the first time in nearly 20 months.

Rocky Mountain Energy Corp. (RMEC) said Friday that it has obtained $5 million in development financing dedicated to its recently acquired fields in Wyoming which will enable it to immediately generate cash flow from its proved gas reserves in the state.

Dynegy Inc. apparently is attempting to negotiate a settlement of an investigation of its accounting practices by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. Sources told the Journal that lawyers for Dynegy have been discussing a resolution with the SEC, but it was not clear how much progress had been made, or whether Dynegy also was attempting to resolve a criminal inquiry by the Department of Justice.

It was appropriately Halloween when the clock struck midnight for California’s electricity financing woes. A short-term, $4.3 billion “bridge” loan for buying wholesale electricity supplies reverted to a higher-interest, three-year term loan, adding to the costs of the state’s foray into power buying at a time when a statewide economic summit was scheduled to take place over the weekend to re-energize the state’s economy.

California’s fledgling Consumer Power and Conservation Financing Authority (power authority) last week continued its breakneck start-up, announcing its pursuit of various gas-fired and renewable power generation projects that are aimed at giving the state another 3,000 MW online by next summer. In addition, the power authority said it has posted on its web site (www.capowerauthority.ca.gov) a draft request for bids for microturbine, solar and fuel cell projects.

The State of Alaska has hired Petrie Parkman & Co. of Denver to act as a financial adviser to evaluate the state’s potential participation in owning an interest in or financing a North Slope natural gas pipeline project. Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles has proposed federal legislation that would mandate a natural gas pipeline along the Alaska Highway, and called for federal tax incentives to enable companies to bring North Slope gas to market. Petrie Parkman will assist the Alaska commissioner of revenue in preparing a comprehensive report addressing options for and analysis of the state’s potential participation in a gas pipe project. The assistance was provided under the authority of Alaska’s Senate Bill 158. The report, when completed, would be presented to the governor and the state legislature and would include an examination of each of the announced North Slope pipe proposals. The report also would analyze whether and how the state could take an equity ownership or other financial interest in the project.