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Hank Jones, senior v.p. and head of European energy trading at American Electric Power, gave few clues as to why the U.S. power concern decided to buy Fiddlers Ferry and Ferrybridge, two 2 GW U.K. coal-fired plants sold by Edison International last year, but hinted that AEP may have a more bullish view of the U.K. wholesale market than some of its rivals.

The collapse of Enron has caused most disruption in the German power market. Paul Marsh, coo of TXU Europe, told delegates the demise of the world's largest power trader caused barely a ripple in the U.K., but prompted volatility in Germany. Hank Jones, senior v.p. and head of European energy trading at American Electric Power agreed. He noted the price gyrations at the end of last year reflected the shallowness of the German market and lack of counterparties who trade it.

Detroit, Mich.-based DTE Energy is on the prowl for generation assets in the eastern U.S. as it looks to broaden its generation portfolio beyond its backyard in the Midwest. Knut Simonsen, v.p. of growth strategies and mergers & acquisitions, says the energy provider is looking to acquire coal or natural gas-fired plants in any of the eastern states bar Florida. "Right now we have assets in the Great Lakes region, so bringing additional capacity in the east would be a good fit," he explains. He declined to comment on how much capacity it is seeking to acquire.

Union Bank of California and Barclays Capital last week launched a $421 million letter of credit facility backing a long-standing sale and leaseback structure for three FirstEnergy subsidiaries. The leads, which will pitch in $45 million a piece, are looking for three co-document agents to commit at the $45 million level, and then tickets of $30 million and $15 million further down the ladder. The facility fee is 137 basis points. The leads are aiming to wrap up the deal by March 5, as the facility replaces a number of expiring letters of credit, says a banker.

Citibank, BNP Paribas and the Export Development Corp., Canada's national credit export agency, have signed up six banks pre-syndication for InterGen's $533 million project loan for the construction of La Rosita I and II (1,075 MW) and will launch generation syndication in March. HypoVereinsbank, Fortis, Dexia, Credit Lyonnais, Nord LB and Bayerische Vereins Bank have all agreed to commit funds, says a project financier on the deal. The lead arrangers had already signed up three co-arrangers, Société Générale, KBC Bank and ANZ Investment Bank. The financier adds the commitment levels range from $40-50 million.

The power market is bracing itself for a slew of generation asset sales in the wake of Enron's collapse and heightened scrutiny from rating agencies and creditors, but potential bidders are unlikely to dive into the market just yet.

Enron CEO Stephen Cooper said one or more people could end up in jail on charges stemming from the government's investigation of Enron and it partnerships. "I think it's going to be difficult to not hold one or more people accountable," he said (Dow Jones, 2/20).

Former Enron cfo Andrew Fastow in an internal company interview last August strongly defended his role in controversial outside partnerships, saying they were good for the company and blaming criticism about them on a rival's efforts to get his job as the firm's finance chief (The Wall Street Journal, 2/20).

The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Enron's collapse exposed a flaw that cannot be fixed by government: accountants and lawyers who follow the letter rather than the spirit of the law. "Confidence in our capital markets cannot be maintained if the public believes everything is a game to enable corporations to rely on lawyers and other professionals, who, in turn, rely on a literal reading of the law or governing principles,'" said Harvey Pitt (Reuters, 2/19).

General Electric has agreed to buy Enron's wind-turbine manufacturing and marketing operations. Enron Wind will file for bankruptcy-court protection, and GE will purchase the assets out of bankruptcy. Combined with debt and other considerations, the total value of the deal is expected to be about $400 million. The sale doesn't include Enron owned or operated wind farms, but GE will continue to provide operational support for most of the facilities (Wall Street Journal, 2/20).