DWP MAY RECOVER $62 MILLION LOAN.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer Although city officials had once expected to ``kiss the money goodbye,'' Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. may recoup $62 million this spring from Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 11 million people with electricity. , which has pledged to repay a statewide $3.3 billion debt. The money represents one-third of the $179.5 million - plus interest - owed the Department of Water and Power via the California Independent Service Operator and defunct Power Exchange for surplus power the city sold in November and December 2000. The balance of the debt remains mired mire n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or situation: the mire of poverty. v. in bankruptcy proceedings bankruptcy proceedings n. the bankruptcy procedure is: a) filing a petition (voluntary or involuntary) to declare a debtor person or business bankrupt, or, under Chapter 11 or 13, to allow reorganization or refinancing under a plan to meet the debts of the party by Pacific Gas and Electric. ``We're happy to be getting the money that is owed us and look forward to getting what PG&E owes us as well,'' said DWP DWP Department of Work and Pensions (UK) DWP Drinking Water Program DWP Dynamic Weapon Pricing (gamin, Counter-Strike: Source) DWP Department of Water & Power DWP Drinking Water Protection Spokesman Eric Tharp. ``I think this will close a chapter on some unfortunate incidents which happened last year.'' For the state's private utilities, such incidents included a faulty deregulation Deregulation The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry. Notes: Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. scheme that forced them to buy power for far more than they could charge their customers. The end result: financial ruin and an inability to purchase needed power. For 27 million private utility customers outside Los Angeles, Glendale and Burbank, such incidents included incessant power alerts and six days of blackouts in January, February and May. The ultimate result: rate hikes of up to 40 percent with no end in sight. For taxpayers throughout California, the energy crisis prompted a state order for strict conservation and harried buys of high-priced power by a state agency to keep the lights on. The result: $10.7 billion in power purchases, $42.7 billion in overpriced o·ver·price tr.v. o·ver·priced, o·ver·pric·ing, o·ver·pric·es To put too high a price or value on. overpriced Adjective costing more than it is thought to be worth Adj. power contracts, damaged state credit and a projected $12.4 billion state budget deficit partially caused by a failure to sell a $12.5 billion energy bond, the largest in history. Such spending, state auditor State auditors are executive officers of U.S. states. The office usually is created by the state constitution.
State power grid operators announced last week they will soon roll out a proposal to revive the day-ahead market similar to the defunct Power Exchange to relieve congestion The condition of a network when there is not enough bandwidth to support the current traffic load. congestion - When the offered load of a data communication path exceeds the capacity. on some transmission lines. The state Public Utilities Commission also mollified some angry consumers with a plan to spread state power charges equally among the utilities. The ruling could mean an increase to Edison ratepayers who currently pay less for power than those in Northern California Northern California, sometimes referred to as NorCal, is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The region contains the San Francisco Bay Area, the state capital, Sacramento; as well as the substantial natural beauty of the redwood forests, the northern . As for the DWP, the political mudslinging mud·sling·er n. One who makes malicious charges and otherwise attempts to discredit an opponent, as in a political campaign. mud continues over power sales to the state last year that many said helped avert blackouts for millions of Edison and PG&E customers. ``We were 100 percent exposed to the wildly fluctuating energy market,'' Gov. Gray Davis said during his State of the State speech last week. ``Merchant generators - even some of our own municipal utilities - were gouging Gouging can be:
The DWP claims it did nothing illegal. Meanwhile city officials are thrilled at the possibility getting some of the $193 million, including interest, owed by utilities. The money, DWP officials say, will help pay for six peaker generating plants, including one in the Valley, built last year to provide power for up to 300,000 homes. ``Mayor (James) Hahn is pleased that there is the potential opportunity for DWP ratepayers to get their money back,'' said Julie Wong, lead spokeswoman for the mayor. The $117.5 million owed by PG&E is up in the air, as the city failed to get a seat on its bankruptcy committee. The DWP did, however, win a seat in the Power Exchange bankruptcy. Edison, for its part, remains committed to paying its bills: $1.2 billion to qualifying facilities that generate alternative power, $878 million to the Cal-ISO or the bankrupt Power Exchange, $238 million in Power Exchange energy credits, and nearly $1 billion to banks. Only Edison officials questioned the precise amount of electricity the DWP claims to have sold them through state power brokers. The amount, they said, is incalculable. ``I think it's suspect,'' said Edison spokesmen Tom Boyd, of the $62 million figure. `` We do expect to pay our debts by the first quarter of the year, perhaps as early as March. ``Things are a hell of a lot better than they were a year ago.'' |
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