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Lead arrangers Citibank and Mizuho Financial are putting the final touches to a $210 million long-term non-recourse loan being used to help finance the construction of Altamira (495 MW), a $300 million combined-cycle gas-turbine plant in northeastern Mexico. A New York project financier says project sponsors Electricité de France (51%) and Mitsubishi (49%) should receive the construction funds next month. The financier adds that Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and ING Barings have come on board as co-arrangers, but declined comment on their commitment levels. Calls to bankers at BoTM, ING, Citibank and Mizuho were not returned. Officials at EdF and Mitsubishi also did not return calls.

Market participants are viewing the emergence of new clearing platforms as a primary solution to the issue of counterparty credit risk presently undermining energy trading, but determining which platforms will emerge as the industry standard is still shrouded in doubt, they say.

Houston-based Reliant Resources, the unregulated and partially floated affiliate of Reliant Energy, has begun shopping itself, says a Wall Street banker who has spoken to senior management about its plans. He adds the independent power producer hopes to find a buyer following a full spinoff, which is expected to occur shortly. The banker says the recent series of body blows to Reliant Resources--notably its admission of engaging in round-trip power trading, its struggle to replace or extend existing bank debt and its tumbling share price--prompted it to seek a buyer. As of last Thursday, Reliant Resources' share price stood at $8.28, a fraction of its $28.60 52-week high and not far off its $7.28 low. It has a market capitalization of $2.4 billion.

Playboy magazine's long awaited 'Women of Enron' issue, which features 10 former and current employees of the bankrupt Houston trader, is expected to prove a hot commodity when it hits Wall Street and Houston newsstands today. Michael Carr, president of Playboy Publishing in New York, told PFR the newsstand print run is 800,000 copies, a 20-25% jump over the regular Playboy monthly issue. The company, which also has 2.7 million regular subscribers, is expecting strong sales in Houston and New York, as well as the hometowns of the models, he says. "There is no romance without finance," observes Carr.

Lazard in New York has formed a utilities equity research practice and has hired Andre Meade, a utility analyst at Commerzbank, and his associate Andrew Smith, to provide coverage. They joined the investment bank on May 20 and will cover approximately 15-20 utilities and merchant energy companies including Duke Energy, Mirant, Dominion, Southern Co. and Reliant.

London Electricity tapped the inflation-linked bond market for the first time last Thursday to refinance short-term debt associated with its wires business. Steve Bott, group finance manager in London says its distribution arm London Power Networks issued GBP150 million of 30-year bond linked to the retail price index (RPI) and GBP200 million of 25-year fixed-rate debt.

Following is a directory of ongoing generation asset sales. The accuracy of the information, which is derived from many sources, is deemed reliable but cannot be guaranteed. To report new auctions or changes in the status of a sale, please call Will Ainger, managing editor, at (44-20) 7303-1735 or e-mail wainger@euromoneyplc.com. Seller Plants Location MW Plant Type Advisor Status American Electric Power/ Northeastern units 3 & 4 Okla. 300 Coal N/A Reviewing sale strategies. Central and Southwest Corp. Lon C. Hill Texas 546 Gas Nueces Bay Texas 559 Gas Ennis S. Joslin Texas 249 Gas ADWEA Um Al Nar Abu Dhabi 1,100 Gas & Water Desalination CSFB Looking to sell plants in 2003. AES Fifoots Point Fifoots Point U.K. 363 Coal KPMG (Administrator) Looking to sell plant by end of April BP Great Yarmouth U.K. 400 Gas JP Morgan Looking to sell plant this summer. Central Hudson Gas & Electric Syracuse N.Y. 100 CHP Navigant Final bids due by late Nov. Beaver falls N.Y. 100 CHP Niagara falls N.Y. 52 Coal Cinergy Ascoy Spain 6 (20%) Wind J.P. Morgan Expects to sell assets this summer Cinergetika Czech Rep. 230 CHP Crisa Spain 6 (95%) Hydro Desebro Spain 15 (50%) Wind Energetika Chropyne Czech Rep. 48 CHP EPR Ely U.K. 36 Straw Moravske Teplamy Czech Rep. 410 CHP Paxareuras Spain 40 Wind Pizenska Energetika Czech Rep. 406 CHP Redditch U.K. 29 Gas Teptama Otrokovice Czech Rep. 349 (11%) CHP CMS Energy Loy Yang Melbourne, Australia 2,000 Coal Not chosen Announced intention to sell. Ensenada Argentina 128 Gas-fired J.P. Morgan CT Mendoza Argentina 520 Gas-fired J.P. Morgan El Chocon Argentina 1,320 Hydroelectric J.P. Morgan DPL All plants Ohio 3,500 N/A Morgan Stanley Enel Eurogen Italy 7,008 Various - Having sold Elettrogen it will sell one of two Interpower Italy 2,611 Various - other generation portfolios shortly. Enron Nowa Sarzyna Poland 116 PwC Intention to sell. Sarlux Italy 551 (administrator) Trakya Turkey 478 Chengdu Cogen China 284 Northern Marianas Guam 80 Bantagas Philippines 110 Dabhol India 2,184 Subic Bay Philippines 116 Teesside U.K. 1875 Wilton U.K. 154 IVO Energy Brigg U.K. 240 Gas Looking to refocus in Nordic region. Grangemouth*** U.K. 130 Gas Edenderry Ireland 120 Peat Mirant Canal Mass. 1,109 Gas & Oil Part of $1.6B restructuring Kendall Mass. 100 Gas & Oil - Martha's Vineyard Mass. 12 Gas & Oil - Niagara Mohawk Power Nine Mile Point 1 N.Y. 1,614 Nuclear N/A Awaiting bids. Nine Mile Point 2 N.Y. 1,140 Nuclear N/A NRG/Xcel Gladstone Power Australia 1,500 (37.5% stake) Coal ABN AMRO Flinders Australia 760 Coal Loy Yang A Australia 2,000 (25% stake) Coal Hsinchu Taiwan 400 (60% stake) Gas-fired Lanco Kondapalli India 340 (30% stake) Gas/Oil Collinsville Australia 192 (50% stake) Coal TermoRio Brazil 1040 (50% sake) Gas Deutsche Bank COBEE Boliva 220 (98% stake) Hydro/Gas Itiquira Energetica Brazil 160 (98% stake) Hydro Cementos Pacasmayo Peru 66 Hydro/Oil Bulo Bulo Bolivia 90 (60% stake) Gas-fired Cahua Peru 45 Hydro Oman (Ministry of Housing, Rusail Oman 730 Gas - - Electricity & Water) Ghubratt Oman 507 CHP Wad Al-Jazzi Oman 350 Gas Ontario Power Generation Lennox Ontario 2,140 Oil, gas Merrill Lynch & Expects to sell Lennox and Lakeview shortly. Lakeview Ontario 1,140 Coal Scotia Capital- Atikokan Ontario 215 Coal Thunder Bay Ontario 310 Coal Mississagi River Ontario 490 Hydro Pacific Gas & Electric 68 Plants Calif. 3,800 Hydro Morgan Stanley Awaiting PUC approval. Expect sale to close shortly. Polish Treasury Elektroncieplownie Poland - CHP - Bids due in June. Pozpnanskie Public Service Co. of New Merrimack N.H. 475.8 Coal J.P. Morgan Subject to approval for rate settlement by PUC Hampshire (Northeast Utilities) Newington N.H. 415 Oil/gas and state legislature. Schiller N.H. 146.6 Oil/gas Lost Nation N.H. 19.1 Diesel Merrimack N.H. 42.2 Diesel Schiller N.H. 18 Diesel White Lake N.H. 23 Diesel Amoskeag N.H. 17.5 Hydro Ayers Island N.H. 9.1 Hydro Canaan Vt. 1.1 Hydro Eastman Falls N.H. 6.5 Hydro Garvins Falls N.H. 12.1 Hydro Gorham N.H. 2.1 Hydro Hoolsett N.H. 1.95 Hydro Jackman N.H. 3.55 Hydro Smith N.H. 14.2 Hydro Reliant Resources Reliant Energy Power Netherlands 3,476 Mixture Merrill Lynch Is looking to seal sale imminently Generation Benelux Argener Argentina 160 CHP - - ScottishPower Hazelwood Victoria, Australia 1,600 Coal CSFB Final bids due shortly. TXU Lake Creek Texas 323 Gas Merrill Lynch Reviewing sales strategy. Tradinghouse Texas 1,340 River Crest Texas 110 Mountain Creek Texas 893 Parkdale Texas 327 North Main Texas 123 Monticello Texas 1,900 Coal Merrill Lynch Is looking to sell an undisclosed number of its Martin Lake Texas 2,250 coal assets. Big Brown Texas 1,150 Sandow Texas 545 Wisconsin Energy Bridgeport Conn. 1,100 (combined) - - Has put up for sale following collaspe New Haven Conn. 1,100 (combined) of NRG deal. *** Fortum owns 75% of Grangemouth. Mitsubishi owns the remainder.

Round-trip electricity transactions could account for $30 billion per year of inflated revenue among the top 10 power traders, according to Mark Williams, a visiting scholar at Boston University and former senior v.p. of Citizens Power. Williams' calculation is based on admissions that many of the top power traders in the U.S., including Dynegy, Reliant Resources, Duke Energy and CMS Energy, engaged in the bogus trades. Total electricity sales in the U.S. accounted for some MWh6.7 billion last year.

Swiss Re will make a push into long-term structured weather deals and also look to garner heavy trading flow when it re-enters the weather market under ex-Enron staffer Mark Tawney. "They're going to be banging out trades," says one rival, who along with the rest of the market sees a big positive in the addition of a triple-A rated reinsurer. The Swiss Re team is currently ironing out infrastructure and documentation issues with a view to having the desk "up and running in the very near future," according to a statement Swiss Re e-mailed to PFR . Market officials say the desk could be live as early as next week. Spokeswoman Nancy Jewell declined to comment on a specific timeline. Tawney referred questions to Jewell.

Credit Lyonnais Rouse Derivatives will be homing in on client-driven business in its first foray into weather derivatives, rather than building up a trading team. Peter Brewer, the ex-Aquila staffer who joins this week to head up the push (PFR, 5/20), says the plan is to start small and his strategy will be to home in on client demand, rather than come at the market with a set product list. Brewer, who will be the chief point person for marketing and structuring weather derivatives, says CLR has been looking at the market for a couple of years. With the growing level of awareness among end-users and the increasing number of trading players, it decided to make the move now, he explains.