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Omaha, Neb.-based Tenaska has signed up seven banks ahead of the retail launch of its $497.2 million project financing for an 885 MW plant in Fluvanna County, Va. Abbey National, Bank of Scotland and CoBank have inked $50 million tickets to land arranger slots, and Bank of Ireland, Landesbank Baden Württemberg, Lloyds TSB Bank and NIB Capital have secured co-arranger titles with $35 million commitments, according to market officials. An early lender ticket from John Hancock adds another $30 million.

Bachar Samawi, one of the founding executives of PG&E National Energy Group's energy trading operation, left the independent power producer last month to set up his own strategic consultancy GammaWealth Strategy & Research. Samawi, latterly v.p. of new business initiatives at NEG, says in addition to the strategic side of the business he is in the process of setting up a hedge fund. Both arms of the business will range across markets he's been active in before, including energy, FX, fixed income and weather.

Constellation Energy Group tapped the fixed income market for $500 million in seven-year senior notes two weeks ago, locking in a liquidity cushion that reduces its need to tap the short-term commercial paper market. The rationale for the issue was that it allowed the Baltimore, Md.-based utility holding company to obtain longer-term funding at a favorable rate, says spokeswoman Rose Kendig, adding Constellation has no further comment on the financing.

Debbie Grosser, a fixed-income utility analyst at Salomon Smith Barney in New York, has left the Wall Street. firm. Market watchers say Grosser, who left last month, has yet to find a new post. Grosser's departure shifts the firm's coverage to Brian Schmidt, another utility analyst at the firm.

PG&E National Energy Group (NEG) reportedly has begun sounding out potential suitors to acquire it, having been told by parent PG&E Corp. that it will listen to offers for its unregulated power generation and trading unit.

Chivor, a subsidiary of AES Gener and Colombia's fourth largest generator, has been granted a four-year extension through December 2006 to repay a $336 million internationally syndicated non-recourse project loan that has been in default since late last year.

Reliant Resources yesterday unveiled plans for refinancing its maturing Orion New York and Orion Midwest non-recourse mini-perm loans into one cross-collateralized facility. The beleaguered IPP will now begin the arduous task of corralling all the banks in the existing facilities two syndicates to agree to the $1.5 billion restructuring and a three-year extension of the loan. I think it will go through. But some banks will take it to the wire and they'll need to get beaten up, says one financier. Officials at Reliant did not immediately respond to questions.

Despite the extension on collateral requirements given last week to NRG Energy from its lenders, fixed-income analysts on the buy- and sell-sides say the banks may still decide to pull the plug on the independent power producer. Even those who believe the banks are unlikely to force the company into default say that such an event would cause another wave of selling in the IPP sector—just as bond prices are showing signs of a recovery. "A nation of sheep is investing in these things. It would not be a positive development," says one East Coast buy-side analyst.

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Reliant Resources is aiming to simultaneously refinance some $6.1 billion of bank facilities over the next few weeks and in a bid to foster confidence among bank lenders, PricewaterhouseCoopers has been retained to provide an independent valuation of the company. Bankers say the embattled Houston power player will likely get the deals completed, but with so many banks involved in the negotiations--and each with different levels of security and appetite for power paper--there will likely be some hard bargaining. Sandy Fruhman, spokeswoman, says Reliant isn't commenting on issues related to the refinancing, aside from what is disclosed in 10Q filings.