ISO New England worried about NRG, blackout risk

WASHINGTON - New England's wholesale power grid said on Wednesday it was concerned about the risk of blackouts in Connecticut if Xcel Energy Inc's ((XEL.N)) bankrupt NRG Energy is unable to keep its generating plants operating.

The Independent System Operator New England asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to "take whatever actions are necessary" to keep NRG's electricity generating plants in operation.

FERC ruled last month that NRG must honor a money-losing contract to supply wholesale electricity to Connecticut Light & Power, despite an order from a federal court saying NRG could drop the contract.

But the ISO New England said it was concerned that NRG may soon be unable to keep operating its 25 generating units with a capacity of 2,155 megawatts.

The loss of those plants "could result in blackouts over considerably wider areas of the bulk power grid" throughout New England, the grid operator told FERC in a filing.

"The unavailability of even a limited number of the New England generating assets during peak periods, due to a lack of fuel or for other reasons, would substantially increase the risk of disruptions in the supply of electricity to consumers in Connecticut," it added.

John Boken, chief operating officer of NRG, said on July 8 that if NRG was forced to continue to honor the contract with the Connecticut utility, the company could run out of cash within three weeks and stop operating its plants. NRG has said it is losing about $500,000 a day due to the supply contract, which is due to expire at the end of the year.

The NRG case is pending before FERC in docket EL03-123.