Reliant

Sempra Energy’s San Diego Gas and Electric Co. utility announced Tuesday its customers would receive approximately $21 million from the settlement with Reliant Energy over issues outstanding from the state’s 2000-2001 energy crisis. In addition, SDG&E said it expects to receive another $20 million at a later date.

CenterPoint (formerly Reliant) issued an Operational Alert to notify all shippers and pool managers that with storage levels nearing maximum capacity, as of Thursday’s gas day they must avoid long imbalances. Otherwise, “such imbalances can exacerbate [CenterPoint’s] current operational problems and may result in the future assessment of Excess Contract Quantities penalties or the issuance of OFOs.”

Reliant Resources Inc. (RRI) increased its after-tax operations for 2000 through 2002 by $17 million after miscalculating hedge ineffectiveness in 2001 and 2002 and eliminating four previously disclosed natural gas swap transactions from 2000 and 2001 that should not have been recorded.

Reliant Resources, Inc. announced Tuesday that its lenders have agreed to extend the Feb.19, 2003, maturity date of its $2.9 billion Orion bridge loan until March 28. The company had previously reached an agreement in principle with its three agent banks on the restructuring of $5.9 billion of debt, including the $2.9 billion Orion bridge loan, and launched its debt restructuring proposal to the broader group of participant banks in January. The extension of the Feb.19 maturity date will allow each of the banks additional time to review the terms of the restructuring proposal and obtain their internal approvals. The approval of 100% of the lenders is required for the transaction to be completed. “Since we launched our debt restructuring proposal, we have received a favorable response from an overwhelming majority of the participants,” said Steve Letbetter, chairman and CEO. “We view the extension of the Feb. 19 maturity date as an important step in securing approval of our bank debt restructuring proposal.”

Citing “extreme weather conditions moving into our service area,” CenterPoint (formerly Reliant) is limiting to primary firm obligations only in the Quadrangle (Line J, Line JM-1, Line T, Line BT-1 South and OM-1), Perryville Hub, Line AC, East Texas (AT-12, AM-47 and AT-5) and on the lines served off these systems. The alert is expected to remain in place until the weather improves. CenterPoint reminded all shippers and pool managers to have adequate supplies to meet deliveries, because it will not allow cumulative long positions to cover deliveries in the affected areas. The pipeline also said it is limiting receipts west of Amber Station (West 1 segment) to primary firm obligations only due to constraints at its Ada storage field in extracting maximum withdrawals during extreme peak conditions.

BP, Conoco, Oneok, Reliant and Sempra topped Mastio & Co. 2002 gas marketer customer satisfaction ranking. The companies that showed the greatest improvement from 2001, Mastio said, were BP, Duke Energy, ExxonMobil and Sempra. However, of the 20 marketers in the 2001 customer satisfaction index, only 13 remained in 2002 and several of those have announced they are exiting the marketing business, Mastio noted in its statement on the ranking.

CenterPoint (formerly Reliant) declared a systemwide Critical Period effective Saturday until further notice, saying it required shippers and pool managers “to stay in balance and have adequate supplies to meet deliveries.”

Reliant Resources Inc. (RRI) took another hit to its credit status on Wednesday after Fitch Ratings dropped the energy merchant’s ratings once again, reflecting the agency’s growing concern over the company’s ability to successfully refinance unsecured bank debt, including a $2.9 billion bridge financing that is due in February. The financing was used to acquire Orion Power Holdings — an acquisition whose value and access to cash lately have been sharply reduced.

Citing necessary maintenance on the #3 and #4 compressor units at the Custer OK Station, Reliant limited capacity on Line 2 Monday to 110,000 Dth/day. The work is expected to be completed by the start of Friday’s gas day.