Subject: california update 5 / 15 / 01
executive summary
? new extraordinary session opened today
? forbearance period extended for socal
? qfs placing liens on socal , moving them closer to bankruptcy
? mou is dead . nation ' s plan b , an alternative to the mou , will become a bill tomorrow and is gaining interest from both sides of the house . socal and davis has yet to give their support .
new extraordinary session
yesterday , the senate and assembly passed resolutions to close the extraordinary session . all bills from the lst session be introduced into the 2 nd session as they were last amended , with the same bill number .
forbearance period extended
regarding the forbearance extended to socal by banker creditors , the parent company ' s credit has been extended until 30 june . the utility ' s forbearance is until 15 september .
qfs placing liens on socal ' s assets
the qfs are placing liens against socal ' s assets ( property or freezing its bank assets ) . as a result , socal is moving ever closer to bankruptcy , maybe as early as later next week . these actions on behalf of the qfs are added incentives for the legislature to move quickly on an alternative to the mou .
alternative plan to the mou
the mou for socal is essentially deal . there are a number of alternative plans being proposed . the legislature held meetings last night on democratic assemblyman nation ' s plan b alternative to the mou . this plan is gaining momentum . according to sources , republican assembly leader cox has signed off for people to work on the plan implying republican interest . senator burton ' s office also reported work on the same plan b . governor davis ' office is aware of the plan but has yet to comment . there is also no word at this time as to whether the republican senate leadership is in support of nation ' s plan b .
key details of the nation plan include a $ 1 . 2 billion option for the state to purchase socal ' s transmission assets . this money would be given to socal by the state regardless of whether the option was exercised , a detail likely to be unpopular with voters . the remainder of the undercollect , stated as $ 3 . 5 billion or an amount determined by puc review , would be paid through securitization of the undercollect by socal . moreover , the utility would sell the state additional power at a cost beyond the 10 years already agreed upon in the memorandum - of - understanding and additional power from other company sources . sources report that the nation plan also currently calls for generators to take a 30 % haircut .
the nation plan b will likely be introduced as a bill tomorrow and will likely go through start the legislative process by early next week . the next scheduled floor session is thursday ; we should be able to tell how fast the legislature intends to move the bill . there is no indication whether socal edison would agree to the nation plan . sources believe it is likely that socal would object to at least some of the plan ' s provisions ( for example , a puc audit of socal ' s debt amount to determine the direct rate component to pay for the undercollect ) . socal is very much at odds with the puc and wishes them to play as little role as possible . if socal does ultimately agree to the plan , the state reportedly may offer a similar deal to pg & e .