Southern

A federal judge in Los Angeles yesterday denied debt-riddenSouthern California Edison’s plea to begin immediately passing onits mounting wholesale power debt load to retail customers.

Westcoast Energy reported yesterday that shippers fully renewedall firm service on its Southern mainline, as well as on keysegments of its Northern mainline. The announcement comes afterWestcoast last September said it was extending the shipper renewaldate to Jan. 31 for service beginning on Nov. 1.

The first independent audit of one of California’s twonear-insolvent investor-owned utilities, Southern California EdisonCo., confirmed Monday that the multi-billion-dollar company wouldhave been forced into bankruptcy Thursday (Feb. 1) without acombination of cost-containment and stopping payments of its debts.It can now hold out at least through March, and itsunder-collections are overstated by about $2 billion when revenuesfrom its own generation over the past eight months are counted.

The near-bankrupt Southern California Edison last week calledfor the formation of an independent agency or agencies that wouldmonitor and punish market-power abusers in the state’s bulk powerand natural markets.

The near-bankrupt Southern California Edison yesterday calledfor the formation of an independent agency or agencies that wouldmonitor and punish market-power abusers in the state’s bulk powerand natural gas markets.

FERC has given Southern California Edison until noon today (PST)to pay the California Power Exchange (Cal-PX) for its bulkelectricity purchases, which is the deadline by which the Cal-PXmust pay its creditors.

Southern California Edison’s petition asking a federal appealscourt in Washington, D.C. to force FERC to reinstitutecost-of-service rates for electricity sales in the Californiamarket is impracticable, legally indefensible and not in thepublic’s best interest, the Commission said.

Southern California Edison made good on its threat to go tocourt if FERC failed to respond immediately to its request tore-impose price controls on bulk power sales in the in theout-of-control California market.

Edison International has eliminated its fourth quarter dividendand subsidiary Southern California Edison has dropped $100 millionin electric system operations and maintenance investments affecting400 jobs to help ease its financial crisis.