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Strategies & Market Trends : Zeev's Turnips - No Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: westpacific who wrote (68218)	5/16/2002 3:20:43 PM
From: westpacific	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99280

Look at games on DOW, but the Transports and Utilities show the REAL picture!!!!

To: westpacific who wrote (68218)	5/16/2002 3:57:11 PM
From: augieboo	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 99280

UTILITIES BREAKING DOWN -- Sierra Pacific posts big loss, sees liquidity woes LAS VEGAS, May 14 (Reuters) - Sierra Pacific Resources Corp.(NYSE:SRP - News) on Tuesday reported a massive first quarter loss as it wrote off more than $300 million in power purchase costs that regulators would not let it collect from customers of its utility unit Nevada Power. The company said the late March ruling had created "a serious liquidity problem" and Nevada Power and its other utility unit Sierra Pacific Power were finding it difficult to buy the electricity its customers will need this summer when demand normally peaks due to heavy air conditioning use. Sierra Pacific reported a loss of $303.9 million or $2.98 a share in the first quarter of this year, versus a loss of $83.5 million or $1.06 a share in the year earlier period. The latest loss included the write-off of $310.7 million related to the ruling by Nevada regulators. Excluding one-time items the company reported a profit of $6.8 million. The company has seen its credit rating downgraded deep into junk territory since the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada announced it would not allow Nevada Power to recover $437 million of the $922 million it had been seeking. Earlier this month Enron Power Marketing Inc. announced it was ending power deliveries to the two utilities because of the credit downgrade. The contracts covered about 10 percent of purchased power supplies for the combined utilities for the remainder of the year, leaving both scrambling to secure replacement supplies. Nevada Power, the utility for the desert gambling oasis of Las Vegas, spent much of the money early last year trying to ensure the lights stayed on last summer when hundreds of hours of blackouts were forecasts in western states amid a chronic shortage of electricity. California suffered a series of rolling blackouts early last year but by the summer an economic recession had helped reduce demand and power prices had fallen sharply, leaving deals agreed by Nevada Power looking expensive. Nevada lawmakers passed legislation allowing its utilities to pass on to customers prudently incurred costs. Nevada regulators ruled that the $437 million in disallowed costs were not incurred prudently. Last year's crisis led one leading utility, PG&E Corp.(NYSE:PCG - News) unit Pacific Gas & Electric, to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after California regulators declined to allow it to fully pass on its soaring costs to its customers. The March ruling by regulators has raised fears that Nevada Power could become the region's second major utility to be forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Nevada regulators last week concluded hearings on a request by the company's other utility unit, Reno, Nevada-based Sierra Pacific Power, to recover $205 million in energy costs incurred last year. A decision is expected by June 1. Sierra Pacific shares were trading up 31 cents at $6.74 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. They have been trading above $15 prior to the ruling.