Subject: Energy Looking Glass 2000dec12 ELECTRIC UTILITIES
CREDIT RATINGS DIM
> ELECTRIC UTILITIES CREDIT RATINGS
DIM > ENERGY: Generating Firms could refuse to sell power to SCE Edison
and PG&E > if they fear a loss of payment > Orange County
REGISTER 2000dec12 front page > > Fitch credit-rating
agency cut unsecured debt of SCE by two notches to > "A-", and PG&E
by one notch. Accumulated payout by the two companies now is > $7.2
BILLION. > > SCE VP Foster said,"We can't keep buying power
at 25 and 30 cents per > kilowatt-hour and only take in 6.5 cents from
consumers". PG&E's debt is > mounting at $1million per
hour. > > Gov. Gray Davis met privately with Chair Loretta
Lynch of the PUC, which > earlier rejected proposals to raise the rates
paid by consumers. > > Power prices soared to a record $1.09949 a
kilowatt-hour in the day-ahead > market, up from 25 cents/kw-hr Friday.
SDG&E customers are paying > 6.5cents/kw-hr, but the company has
authority to pass the higher prices it > is accumulating (estimated at
$420million this year) on to consumers in 2002. > >