Judge Denies Effort to Scrap Utility's Pacts
- Pepco Holdings, the owner of Washington's utility, said recently that a federal judge denied a request from the bankrupt Mirant Corporation to reject two power-purchase agreements.
The agreements stemmed from Mirant's purchase of power plants and some power-supply contracts from Pepco in June 2000 for $2.65 billion. Under the arrangement, Mirant reimburses Pepco for the cost of buying power from third-party generators.
The ruling came from Judge John McBryde of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division.
The reimbursed electricity purchases are at fixed prices above current levels and are "draining tens of millions of dollars per month" from Mirant, the company, which is based in Atlanta, said in a bankruptcy court filing.
Pepco, along with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, opposed the attempt by Mirant to use bankruptcy law to terminate the contracts, saying Mirant required the commission's approval, Pepco said in a statement.
In October, Pepco, which is based in Washington, agreed to pay Mirant more money in a related contract dispute involving below-market power sold to Pepco.
Representatives from Pepco and Mirant were not immediately available for comment.
Related News
New Texas will bill electric vehicle drivers an extra $200 a year
DALLAS - Plano resident Tony Federico bought his Tesla five years ago in part because he hated spending lots of money on gas. But that financial calculus will change slightly on Sept. 1, when Texas will start charging electric vehicle drivers an additional fee of $200 each year.
“It just seems like it’s arbitrary, with no real logic behind it,” said Federico, 51, who works in information technology. “But I’m going to have to pay it.”
Earlier this year, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 505, which requires electric vehicle owners to pay the fee when they register a vehicle or renew their…
