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El Paso Corp. has hired Banc of America Securities to sell its portfolio of 27 contracted U.S. power plants after the failure of a plan to sell its entire generation mix in a single lot via Citigroup. Bankers say Citi--which was retained by El Paso at the turn of this year--is still advising the Houston energy company on the sale of its merchant generation portfolio. Mel Scott, a spokesman at El Paso, declined to comment, and calls to power and M&A bankers at Citi and BofA went unreturned.

Mirant has begun hammering out the details on its mammoth $5.3 billion refinancing of outstanding bonds and bank loans, a process expected to include offers to exchange bonds for longer-dated paper. Lenders say the Atlanta-based IPP may launch--as early as this week--exchange offers for some of the bonds, such as a $500 million issue due '06 by Mirant America Generation, the holding company for its U.S. power plants. At the same time Mirant is looking to convince bank lenders to agree to a five-year loan extension and is offering pricing in the 400-450 basis point range. "It's progressing," says one lender, who believes it will be well into July before a universal agreement is possible.

* The Long Island Power Authority may hire a plant developer to build a power plant on the island or lay a power cable to import power from outside the island. A 330 MW cable designed to bring power from Connecticut to Long Island lies unused beneath the Long Island Sound due to an installation glitch (The Hartford Courant, 6/2).

PNM has extended the maturity profile of its tax-exempt pollution control revenue refunding bond portfolio and in the process slashed funding rates. The utility arm of Albuquerque PNM Resources issued three new series of the bonds, totaling $182 million, with maturities in 2033 and 2038 and retired three other issues which would have matured in 2022 and 2023, says Bob Hagan, spokesman.

Gareth Brett, senior managing director and head of Entergy's European operation in London, is relocating to Houston as president of Entergy Asset Management, the division that operates Entergy's fleet of unregulated non-nuclear generation assets. Brett says he formally takes up the position today, but will likely move to Houston next month. He will continue to manage Entergy's small pool of European assets and projects in development, including its stake in the Maritza II coal-fired plant in Bulgaria.

Two seasoned power industry players are looking to enter the market for distressed energy assets, but breaking ranks from the swathe of generation-focused investment boutiques they'll be targeting the ownership of midstream assets, such as gas storage facilities. "Gas is a lot less glitzy, but the returns are steadier," says David Dunn, a former v.p. of gas trading at American Electric Power. While these types of assets are less distressed than many generation assets, many are on the block because of financial liquidity pressures at their parent companies.

Banks involved in financing the roughly $1.5 billion Umm Al Nar project in Abu Dhabi are looking to bring at least two more underwriters into an $855 million commercially syndicated international tranche before sealing financing by month-end, say lenders close to the deal. They add that four or five banks are still considering taking a lead arranger slot including Mizuho and KfW. Officials at Mizuho declined to comment and calls to KFW went unanswered.

Credit Agricole Indosuez is set to close financing shortly of a $160 million project loan for Jubail Energy Co., funding its acquisition and development of Sadaf, a 250 MW oil-fired plant in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, from Saudi Arabia Basic Industrial Corp. A City financier notes CAI is close to rounding out the deal with five local and regional banks. Jubail is a joint venture between CMS Energy and local contractor Al Zamil. Officials at CMS and CAI in London declined to comment

A third senior executive from El Paso Merchant Energy's power origination and asset acquisition team has landed at Bear Stearns in Houston. Jodie Rephlo joins David Field and Pam Baden at Bear Stearn's newly formed structured investment group that is thought to be looking to restructure long-term power contracts and make principal investments in U.S. generation assets (PFR, 5/26). One market watcher says she joined last month. Rephlo could not be reached for comment and a Bear Stearns spokeswoman was unable to provide details by press time.

Citigroup has reportedly picked DTE Energy Services as the preferred bidder for the asset management role on a pair of defaulted merchant plants sponsored by PG&E National Energy Group. Citi is leading a group of banks that financed the Lake Road and La Paloma plants and expect to assume ownership of the assets on Sept. 30. Calls to Citi were not immediately returned. Scott Simons, a DTE spokesman in Detroit, was unable to provide immediate comment.