Six Western Power Providers Complete First Step to Form Independent 
Transmission Company
Business Wire, 05/04/01

UK: London coal/ore fixtures.
Reuters English News Service, 05/04/01

INTERVIEW:Early Resolution Seen On India Dabhol Pwr Spat
Dow Jones, 05/04/01
Edison to Start Ad Campaign Urging Approval of Power-Line Sale
Bloomberg, 05/07/01
Corporate Bond Alert: WorldCom, RadioShack on Docket (Update1)
Bloomberg, 05/04/01

Six Western Power Providers Complete First Step to Form Independent 
Transmission Company

05/04/2001
Business Wire
(Copyright (c) 2001, Business Wire)

PORTLAND, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2000--In an effort to ensure 
reliability and maximize cost efficiencies, six western utilities have been 
granted preliminary approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
(FERC) to form an independent high voltage electricity transmission company 
serving six Western states. 
The independent, for-profit company, called TransConnect, will be a member of 
a planned non-profit regional transmission organization, RTO West. The 
framework for RTO West, which will span eight Western states, also was 
approved by FERC.
Under the proposal approved by FERC, TransConnect could initially own or 
lease the high voltage transmission facilities currently held by Avista 
Corp., Montana Power Company, Portland General Electric, Puget Sound Energy, 
Nevada Power Company, and Sierra Pacific Power Company. Combining 
transmission resources into one independent company may create new 
opportunities to attract capital and improve the transmission infrastructure. 
Among other things, the FERC order approved TransConnect's governance 
structure and found that TransConnect met the Commission's independence 
requirements. The order also determined that TransConnect would qualify to 
file for innovative and incentive rates. Additionally, the order finds that 
the proposed structure for sharing planning and expansion functions is 
consistent with FERC's basic requirements, but reserves final approval 
pending further clarification by TransConnect and RTO West regarding the 
details and decision process for such sharing. 
"The TransConnect companies are pleased with the FERC order on the 
TransConnect filing and gratified that the Commission supports a for-profit 
business model that has the potential to provide very significant benefits," 
said Paul Mohler, a representative for the six TransConnect companies. 
There are a number of additional steps that must now be taken by the 
companies, including, among other things, preparation of a rate filing and 
various state and federal approvals. Ultimately, the outcome of 
TransConnect's proposal and the companies' decisions to move forward with the 
formation of this transmission company will depend on the economics and 
conditions imposed during the regulatory approval process and approval by the 
individual company boards of directors. 
TransConnect facilities are within the RTO West territory, which will operate 
more than 90 percent of the high voltage transmission facilities from the 
U.S.-Canadian border to southern Nevada. The RTO will not own transmission 
facilities, but will control each participating owners' transmission 
facilities.

CONTACT: Avista Catherine Parochetti, 509/495-2916 or PSE Dorothy Bracken, 
888/831-7250 or Montana Power Susan Fischer, 406/497-2951 or PGE Scott Simms, 
503/464-7342 or Nevada Power Sonya Headen, 702/367-5680 or Sierra Pacific 
Karl Walquist, 775/834-3891 
16:23 EDT MAY 4, 2001 

UK: London coal/ore fixtures.


05/04/2001
Reuters English News Service 
(C) Reuters Limited 2001. 

LONDON, May 4 (Reuters) - COAL - Irfon - (built 1996) 150,000/10 tonnes coal 
Richards Bay/Rotterdam May 20/30 $8.15 fio scale load/25,000 shinc Swiss 
Marine. 
Enron TBN - 150,000/10 tonnes coal Richards Bay/Rotterdam Jun 15/30 $7.95 fio 
scale load/25,000 shinc E.On.
ORE - No fresh fixtures were reported.

INTERVIEW:Early Resolution Seen On India Dabhol Pwr Spat
By Himendra Kumar
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

05/04/2001
Dow Jones International News 
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) 

NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- A prolonged electricity payment dispute between 
U.S.-based Enron Corp.'s (ENE) Indian unit, the Dabhol Power Co., and the 
Maharashtra State Electricity Board could be resolved within a month, the 
head of an independent energy think tank said Friday. 
The dispute over the controversial 2,184-megawatt, $3-billion DPC project in 
India's western state of Maharashtra came to a head recently when the DPC's 
board authorized the management to proceed with a preliminary notice of 
termination - the first of three steps that lead to the abandonment of the 
project.
Despite the move, Rajendra K. Pachauri, director of the New Delhi-based Tata 
Energy Research Institute, said he is optimistic of a resolution. 
"It's in everybody's interest to come up with a reasonable settlement. I 
think DPC will accept a renegotiated contract because they are in an impasse 
right now," Pachauri told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. 
Pachauri is also one of the nine members of the committee appointed by the 
Maharashtra state government to renegotiate the MSEB's controversial power 
purchase agreement with DPC. 
"I do hope that within a month the whole thing can be sorted out. DPC wants 
the negotiations to be short and decisive and if all the parties are willing, 
an agreement won't be difficult," he added. 
The project has been mired in financial disputes since its main customer, the 
Maharashtra State Electricity Board, has failed to pay several of its bills. 
Dabhol has come under fire because of the relatively high cost of its power. 
Critics object to Dabhol charging 7.1 rupees ($1=INR46.83) a kilowatt-hour 
for its power, compared with INR1.5/KWh charged by other suppliers. 
The state government has asked the committee to try to negotiate a revised 
agreement within a month. 
The committee's goal is to lower the power tariff and allow the sale of 
excess power to the federal government or its utilities. A restructure of the 
DPC's stakeholding may also be on the agenda. 
As reported, the negotiating committee's first meeting with the DPC 
management scheduled for Saturday has been postponed until 0530 GMT May 11 at 
DPC's request. DPC Must Run Plant At Full Capacity - Pachauri 

Pachauri said that it is in DPC's interest to run its plant at full capacity 
and maximize sales. 
"Their sales won't be maximized unless the price is attractive. They really 
need to bring down the cost to the consumer. Our brief is very clear. We have 
to sit down with them and identify a strategy by which the Dabhol project can 
be viable for everyone," he said. 
"This will involve a complete financial engineering of the DPC. You'd need to 
restructure the project debts and bring down the interest rates (on debts) to 
the current levels in the market," he added. 
The DPC project - the largest single foreign investment in India - has a 
debt-equity ratio of 70:30. 
Pachauri said Dabhol should agree to charging between INR3.00 and 
INR3.25/KWh. "This is a reasonable range and should be acceptable to 
everyone," he said. 
He said if Enron decided to pull out of Dabhol, it wouldn't have a serious 
impact on foreign direct investments into India, particularly in the 
country's power sector. 
Texas-based Enron has a 65% stake in the DPC, and is the project's largest 
shareholder. Other shareholders include the MSEB with 15%, and General 
Electric Co. (GE) and Bechtel Enterprises (X.BTL) with 10% each. 
The DPC currently operates a 740-MW naphtha plant contributing around 0.7% to 
India's installed capacity. Enron has maintained that work will be completed 
by the year-end in the second phase of Dabhol project that will add 1,444 MW 
to its capacity. The plant will switch from naphtha to liquified natural gas 
as a fuel source in 2002. 
-By Himendra Kumar; Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-461-9426; 
himendra.kumar@dowjones.com

Edison to Start Ad Campaign Urging Approval of Power-Line Sale

     (For more on the California power crisis, see {EXTRA <GO>}.)

     Rosemead, California, May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Edison
International will spend as much as $3 million to air radio and
television advertisements urging the state to complete an
agreement to bail out the company's Southern California Edison
utility.
     The spots, which begin running tomorrow, say the state's
second-largest publicly traded utility will be forced into
bankruptcy unless the Legislature and regulators approve the
state's proposed $2.76 billion purchase of Southern California
Edison's power lines.
     A shortage of power plants and flaws in California's
deregulation laws have led to blackouts and soaring electricity
prices in the state, leaving its two largest utilities with more
than $14 billion in power-buying losses.
     PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric, California's largest
utility, last month sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after
failing to reach an agreement with Governor Gray Davis.
     Shares of Edison International, based in Rosemead,
California, fell 10 cents to $9.18 in late trading. They've fallen
52 percent in the past year. San Francisco-based PG&E rose 13
cents to $8.99. It has dropped 66 percent in a year.

--Mark Johnson in the Princeton newsroom (609) 279-4017, or at
mjohnson7@bloomberg.net, with reporting by Daniel Taub in Los
Angeles/shf


Corporate Bond Alert: WorldCom, RadioShack on Docket (Update1)
2001-05-04 09:40 (New York)


     (Updates with additional detail in second-fourth and 10th
paragraphs)

     New York, May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Following is a description of
corporate and other bond sales expected in the U.S. in coming
days, weeks and months:
 ENRON CORP., the largest energy trader, plans to raise money
by selling credit-linked notes in several currencies, according to
Salomon Smith Barney, which will manage the sale with UBS Warburg.
The sale will follow presentations to investors in Europe and will
consist of issues of intermediate maturities. Investors usually
regard notes maturing in five to seven years to be intermediate
maturities. Salomon declined to provide details on the size or
timing of the sale. Credit-linked notes are typically backed by
assets owned by the issuer, and payments on the notes are linked
to the creditworthiness of those assets. Houston-based Enron's
credit is rated  ``BBB+'' at S&P and ``Baa1'' at Moody's. (Updated
May 2. Company news:
{ENE US <Equity> CN <GO>}).

--Terence Flanagan and Jennifer Ryan in the New York newsroom
(212) 893-5662, or at tflanagan@bloomberg.net/mp