----- Forwarded by Jeff Dasovich/NA/Enron on 02/27/2001 05:50 PM -----

	Jean Munoz <jmunoz@mcnallytemple.com>
	02/27/2001 04:30 PM
		 
		 To: IEP <jmunoz@mcnallytemple.com>
		 cc: 
		 Subject: IEP News Update


Mirant Agrees to Move 1,000 Megawatts in Power Contracts to California DWR

PR Newswire
02/27/01, 5:17p
(Copyright , 2001, PR Newswire)



SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Mirant Corp. (NYSE: MIR) today
announced an agreement to shift 1,000 megawatts in power contracts from the
California Power Exchange to the state's Department of Water Resources
(DWR), which is acting as the state's electricity buyer.

"In our continuing effort to cooperate with the State of California, the
California DWR has been named as the third-party holder of these contracts,"
said Randy Harrison, chief executive officer of Mirant's western U.S.
operations. "This places the contracts directly in the hands of a
creditworthy entity."

The contracts vary in term length from a month to 10 months. The state of
California took control of the contracts after the California Power Exchange
ceased doing business.

Mirant, which operates California power plants in San Francisco, Antioch and
Pittsburg, last week agreed to provide 750 megawatts of electric generation
capacity to DWR during March.

Formerly known as Southern Energy, Mirant is a global competitive energy
company with leading energy marketing and risk-management expertise. With an
integrated business model, Mirant develops, constructs, owns and operates
power plants and sells wholesale electricity, gas and other energy-related
commodity products. The company has extensive operations in North America,
Europe and Asia. Mirant owns or controls more than 20,000 megawatts of
electric generating capacity around the world, including more than 14,000
megawatts in the United States, with another 9,000 megawatts under advanced
development. Mirant is 80 percent owned by Southern Company (NYSE: SO)

SOURCE Mirant Corp.

/CONTACT: media, Chuck Griffin, 678-579-7814, or investors, John Robinson,
678-579-7782, both of Mirant Corp./

/Web site: http://www.mirant.com /



Fitch Views SCE Transmission Sale Favorably

Business Wire
02/27/01, 2:00p
(Copyright , 2001, Business Wire)

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2001--Fitch views Southern California
Edison's (SCE) tentative agreement to sell its transmission assets as a
favorable step to avoid bankruptcy.

Fitch maintains its Rating Watch Evolving status for SCE's securities.

Under an agreement announced by the Governor of California, the state plans
to purchase SCE's transmission lines for $2.76 billion. Gains from the sale
are expected to reduce debt incurred for power procurement costs that have
exceeded retail rates.

At 2.3 times (x) their book value, the purchase price is a healthy multiple
on assets that earn a small percentage of total utility revenues. SCE's
remaining assets are low variable cost generation (primarily hydro and
nuclear, with some coal-fired), and its large distribution infrastructure.

As of Jan. 31, 2001, SCE had incurred approximately $5.5 billion of
undercollections. Under its first mortgage indenture, SCE's transmission
assets may be released from the mortgage without paying secured bondholders
if at least 150% asset coverage of outstanding secured debt exists. SCE has
approximately $9 billion of additional unbonded utility property, which
provides more than enough collateral to permit the transmission asset sale
under the indenture.

Proceeds from the transmission asset sale, however, are insufficient to
recoup all of SCE's previously incurred undercollections and meet financial
obligations. SCE owes approximately $614 million in unpaid principal and
interest on its bonds and commercial paper.

Through Feb. 5, 2001, SCE deferred payments aggregating $743 million due to
the PX, ISO and QFs. Through Feb. 28, 2001, an additional $733 million will
become due to these providers. Another $78 million is due to energy service
providers through Feb. 15, 2001. The utility's bank groups have agreed to
forbear taking action under their credit agreements until March 14.

The utility will need to consider action before cure periods under certain
unpaid bonds expire within the month. SCE has accumulated $1.4 billion in
cash as of Feb. 5, which could be applied to make critical payments and
prevent acceleration. SCE has paid interest on certain bonds before their
cure periods expired.

In addition, the utility will need to address its existing agreements with
qualifying facility (QF) power producers. Many of these agreements have a
variable cost component tied to natural gas prices, which currently exceed
retail rates. As the state of California and its investor-owned utilities
work to reform the power market, some restructuring of these contracts
remains a possibility.

The transmission proposal will require the approval of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) and the California legislature. FERC
approval could require many months to occur. Similar transactions may need
to be executed with California's other investor-owned utilities, San Diego
Gas and Electric Company, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company to assure
passage of legislation.

Any legislation to restructure California's power market also risks voter
initiatives overturning these actions at a later date.

Asset sale proceeds will almost halve the amount of previously incurred
excess power costs, plus EIX plans to infuse $420 million into SCE as part
of the overall agreement. Based on legislation passed earlier this month,
the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) has now assumed future
power purchase obligations until 2003.

To recoup the remaining amount of uncollected costs, the tentative agreement
includes a dedicated rate component permitting securitization at the utility
company level.

If an agreement is reached and approved by all parties, SCE will likely
assume a somewhat different profile. Its generation is moving to a cost of
service basis, which yields a regulated rate of return. SCE currently has an
11.6% authorized rate of return. Combined with the state owning the
transmission infrastructure, SCE would become a more stable, less
growth-oriented investment.

Headquartered in Rosemead, Calif., SCE is a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Edison International (EIX). Serving 4.3 million customers, SCE's peak demand
was 19,757 mw as of Sept. 30, 2000. The utility owns 10,430 mw of
generation.

Fitch currently rates these SCE securities:


    -- First Mortgage Bonds `B-`;
    -- Senior Unsecured Debt `CC';
    -- Preferred Stock/QUIDS `C';
    -- Commercial Paper `D';
    -- Rating Watch Evolving.
Prominent Tech Business Leaders Call for National Energy Reliability
Initiative

Business Wire
02/27/01, 11:20a
(Copyright , 2001, Business Wire)

DANBURY, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2001--


   Congress & Bush Administration Are Urged To Support Research For
     New Technologies In Electricity Generation and Distribution

Leading energy associations and Fortune 500 companies have delivered a
letter to Capitol Hill appropriations committees proposing that the U.S.
Department of Energy create a $320 million National Energy Reliability
Initiative for the 2002 fiscal year, specifically focused on the energy
needs of the high-tech industry. The more than 20 prominent businesses and
trade groups that signed the letter are urging U.S. House and Senate
leaders, as well as the Bush Administration, to establish the federal
initiative as a channel for public-private research in new energy
technologies, including distributed generation and end-use improvements.

The proposed National Energy Reliability Initiative program budget, along
with a letter addressed to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, can be viewed
at http://www.hi-availability.com/news.htm.

According to National Energy Reliability Initiative supporters, power
outages cost the nation nearly $50 billion annually. They back calls that
the U.S. Department of Energy should support research, development and
deployment of innovative energy systems so that America's information-based
industries can remain competitive in the global economy.

"High-tech businesses face tremendous financial risk from outages and
brownouts because power fluctuations of only a few microseconds can bring
computers and other sensitive systems to a crashing halt," says Patrick
Hanley, president and CEO of Sure Power Corporation, a developer of next
generation power systems and one of the more than 20 firms backing the
letter.

"As recent events in California have demonstrated, the nation's existing
infrastructure cannot adequately meet the New Economy's need for high
amounts of reliable, computer-grade electricity," Hanley notes.

About Sure Power Corporation

Sure Power Corporation, a privately-held company located in Danbury, Conn.,
delivers computer-grade electricity at "six 9s" availability and better,
exceeding the highest availability levels required for mainframe computers
and high-end servers. Its distributed generation systems are at the
forefront of the onsite power industry. Spencer Trask, a New York City
venture capital firm, owns a minority stake in the company. With Sure
Power's high availability power systems, users realize substantially
increased uptime, allowing for higher revenues and fewer unexpected losses.
Sure Power has partnerships with both High-Point Rendel and R.W. Beck in the
construction, planning and design of its systems. More information about
Sure Power Corporation can be found at www.hi-availability.com.



    CONTACT: Sure Power Corporation
             Art Mannion, (203) 790-8996
             amannion@hi-availability.com
                OR
             Sterling Hager, Inc.
             Jon Rucket, (617) 926-6665 ext. 369
             jrucket@sterlinghager.com