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Scott Putnam, part of the team that fired up Hess Energy Trading Co.'s weather unit, is set to leave the firm, according to senior weather official familiar with his plans. A HETCO official declined comment, referring calls direct to Putnam, who was out of the office last week. Putnam, a quant specialist, joined HETCO two years ago after leaving Koch Entergy Trading along with three other staffers (PFR, 5/9/00). The industry official says Putnam may be returning to academia. "

Bonds Date Maturity Issuer Amount Price Type of Security Coupon (%) Spread to Treasury Moody's S&P Book Manager(s) 04/01/02 04/01/12 Madison Gas & Electric 15 100 MTNs 6.58 115 Aa3 AA- Bank One 04/01/02 04/01/32 Madison Gas & Electric 25 100 MTNs 7.12 130 Aa3 AA- Bank One 04/01/02 04/01/12 Northeast Utilities 263 99.49 Senior Notes 7.25 199 Baa1 BBB Barclays Capital 04/03/02 04/15/12 Allegheny Energy Supply 650 99.822 Notes 8.25 294 Baa1 BBB+ BA SEC/JPM 04/03/02 04/01/42 Consolidated Edison 325 100 PINES 7.25 150 A2 A Merrill/Morgan Stanley/SSB 04/03/02 04/15/09 DTE Energy 20 99.858 Sr Unsecured Nts 6.65 150 Baa2 BBB CSFB M&A Date Announced Date Effective Target Target Country Acquiror Acquiror Country Value ($mil) 06/15/00 06/15/00 Cemar Brazil PPL U.S. 305.2 06/15/00 06/15/00 Freestone Energy Center U.S. Calpine U.S. 208.0 06/16/00 - Halligan Profits Power Plant Hong Kong DragonField Holdings Hong Kong 11.5 06/16/00 - Moravskoslezske Teplarny Czech Republic Spid 2 (Vivendi) France - 06/16/00 - Teplarny Karvina Czech Republic Spid 2 (Vivendi) France - 06/19/00 06/19/00 Termest Estonia Fortum Finland - 06/20/00 - GPU PowerNet Australia Singapore Power Singapore 1264.2 06/20/00 - Oestkraft Norway Hafslund Energi,Din Energi Norway - 06/21/00 - Chemgas Holding/Van Ommeren Netherlands Koninklijke Vopak Netherlands - Source: Thomson Financial Securities Data Company. For more information, call Rich Peterson at (973) 645-9701.

Duke Energy has launched a weather derivatives desk and executed its first transactions on the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) April 2. Dan Cook, director-financial trading in Salt Lake City, says the desk will incorporate a "healthy mixture" of hedging the energy giant's generation portfolio and taking speculative positions. "There were six trades on ICE products [last Tuesday and] we were participants in most of them," he notes.

Lead arrangers Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria,Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento and the Inter-American Development Bank plan to wrap up $280 million in non-recourse financing by mid-May to fund a 502 MW natural gas-fired power plant in Brazil, dubbed Termopernambuco, says Adriana de Aguinaga, an investment officer at the IDB.

The Inter-American Development Bank and Bank of America have closed financing on a $173 million loan being used to develop Thermo Bahia, a 187 MW gas-fired power project in Brazil's Bahia state. Adriana de Aguinaga, an investment officer at the IDB in Washington, says the funds were released at the end of March to the project's developers and adds the deal was syndicated to six banks. She declined to reveal the syndicate team or discuss the terms of the transaction.

Sole underwriter Royal Bank of Scotland has pushed back the deadline for submitting responses for its GBP257 million ($365 million) Immingham loan to April 10 from last Wednesday and is likely to give prospective syndication partners even more time to weigh up the deal, says one banker eyeing a role. Another lender who's studying the deal says the extended Easter weekend holiday in Europe is a contributing factor, but the main reason for the delay is banks' concerns over the strength of the deal given the sickly state of the U.K. generation market. "Project bankers, and more importantly their credit officers, need more time to evaluate the structure," he says.

Wisconsin Energy is planning to renew a 364-day revolver but will downsize the facility from $500 million to $300 million. Jeff West, treasurer in Milwaukee, says the smaller size reflects the fact the company has now digested its April 2000 $1.2 billion acquisition of WICOR. J.P. Morgan will retain the lead slot on the revolver, which is set to mature later this month, West adds.

FPL Energy is edging closer to launching a $2-2.5 billion non-recourse construction revolver, with company officials making the rounds in New York last week to drum up support for the four-plant financing. Bankers see the project loan as a landmark deal because it'll be the largest so far this year in the power sector and also could be one of the last jumbo revolvers for a while, given the scaled back construction plans of many plant developers.

Cogentrix, a privately-held independent power producer in Charlotte, N.C., has been involved in merger talks this past month with fellow Charlotte concern Duke Energy, say New York investment bankers. However, they doubt a deal is likely to be sealed anytime soon. Cogentrix, which is being advised by Goldman Sachs, did not find Duke's offer rich enough for it to forego independence, they explain.

Slim pickings on the new deal front saw attendees at the annual New Orleans Global Power Markets conference take a stronger interest than usual in the other key aspect of the shindig: the quality of the parties. Topping many partygoers' lists was the Germanic Monday night double-header of DZ Bank's early evening soiree, followed by HypoVereinsbank and law firmBingham Dana's casino event at Harrah's New Orleans. "The conference was a bit more light-hearted," says one reveler, reflecting on the preponderance of bankers and the lack of sponsors to chase for business.