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Citibank expects shortly to close a $650-$700 million bond and non-recourse bank loan financing for the construction of Santa Isabel, a 1,087 MW hydroelectric power plant in northeastern Brazil, says a banker familiar with the sponsoring consortium's plans. Officials at Citibank did not return calls.

Commerical Risk Reinsurance, a subsidiary of French reinsurance company SCOR, exited the weather derivatives market Monday and let go four of its five-strong trading team. Francois Bertrand, executive v.p. in Hamilton, Bermuda, said the operation took a hit on its positions last winter which negated what had been an overall positive performance over the three winters and two summers it had been trading. Another factor in the decision to exit was an external consultant study the firm commissioned around the turn of the year which concluded that the weather market is not about to see significant growth among non-energy end users. He declined to name the consultant or reveal the size of the trading book.

Credit Lyonnais is believed to be setting up a weather derivatives desk and has hired Peter Brewer, an originator who recently departed Aquila's nascent U.K. weather desk (PFR, 5/13) to lead the effort, according to two industry officials. His exact title and role at Lyonnais, which has yet to enter the weather market, could not be determined. Brewer, who is expected to join the French bank on May 28, could not be reached for comment. Calls to Lyonnais were referred to an external public relations firm, which was unable to provide comment.

Reliant Resources is looking to fire up a cancelled $500 million bond issue after Labor Day and expects to increase the size of the offering, senior company officials told a lenders' meeting last Tuesday in New York. The 10-year private placement was pulled at the eleventh hour May 10 after the Houston-based player disclosed traders had been engaging in so-called "round-trip" electricity transactions: back-to-back buy and sell trades that do not generate profit but inflate volumes. The revelations also derailed a major loan restructuring program, which covers at least $1.9 billion in project finance loans (PFR, 4/29). Sandy Fruhman, spokeswoman, says the company does not comment on information disclosed at bank meetings.

Michael Shepard, senior v.p. of Boulder, Colo.-based E Source and Platts Research and Consulting, urged conference attendees to support pooling the proceeds obtained from environmental penalties instead of putting them into supplemental environmental projects, commonly referred to as SEPs.

Mark Williams, v.p. global risk at Edison Mission Marketing & Trading in Boston, has left the firm for a slot in Boston University's Finance & Economics Department. Williams, who had been teaching some classes while at Edison, did not return calls seeking comment. His Edison post has been filled by Andy Hertneky, who joined from the energy practice at McKinsey & Co. Hertneky confirmed the move, adding that he has taken on Williams' role and also some additional duties, which he declined to outline. Calls to Kevin Kelley, a spokesman for Edison Mission Energy, were not returned by press time.

Deutsche Bank is looking to hire a managing director in its global power group in New York to cover mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance in the unregulated utility sector. According to a banker familiar with the firm's plans, the new hire will report to Rob Gray, global head of utilities and energy, and will work alongside Michael Johnson, managing director and head of utilities, and James Denaut, managing director and head of oil and gas. Johnson primarily covers independent power producers and companies that overlap the gas and electricity industries. Gray and Denaut did not return calls and Johnson declined to comment.

American Electric Power is looking to snap up a utility upon the completion of its divestiture of SEEBOARD and has drawn up a shopping list of six companies, with NiSource topping the list, says an investment banker who has spoken to AEP about its expansion plans. AEP is not thought to have approached NiSource yet. Calls to E. Linn Draper, chairman, president and ceo of AEP, and Gary Neale, chairman and president of NiSource, were not returned. Pat Hemlepp, a spokesman at AEP in Columbus, Ohio, and Bill Keegan, a spokesman at NiSource in Merrillville, Ind., declined to comment, citing company policy.

Discredited electricity trading shops, such as CMS Energy, Dynergy and Reliant Resources, which used bogus "round-trip" transactions to boost revenue, will need to post additional collateral to convince counterparties its safe to resume trading with them, according to the head of trading at a European shop. Many counterparties are believed to have cut their trading lines with Reliant and CMS. Dearborn, Mich.-based CMS last week admitted it used bogus trades to inflate its trading volume by 80% in one year. The additional cost of posting collateral will significantly increase the expense of trading and could result in some of these firms winding up their trading desks, he adds.

Canada's Hydro Quebec, through its Chilean subsidiary Transelec, intends to install a power interconnection between Chile and Peru, with the possibility of further connections with Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. Hydro Quebec bought Transelec from Spain's Endesa last year for $1.076 million. The announcement was made by the premier of the province of Quebec, Bernard Landry, who is currently on a trade mission in Latin America (South American Business Information, 5/13).