Allegheny Energy Inc. (AYE) yesterday scaled down its proposed rate hike in Virginia . Earlier, in April 2009, the company had asked for $22.6 million rate hike, which it has now scaled down by $3.2 million to a $19.4 million. Allegheny has proposed the hike before the Virginia State Corporation Commission to recover its cost of purchased power.  For a residential customer with a monthly consumption of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of power, Allegheny's original proposal would have increased the bill by $5.47 to $96. The scaled-down proposal would result in a monthly bill of $94. Headquartered in Greensburg , Pennsylvania , Allegheny Energy is an electric utility company with over $3 billion in annual revenues.  The company is engaged in both regulated electricity and natural gas distribution utility operations as well as in unregulated wholesale energy markets. It owns and operates generating facilities and serves electricity to ...

Allegheny Energy, Inc. (AYE) recently announced that its unregulated power generation subsidiary Allegheny Energy Supply Company, LLC (AE Supply) bagged a new $1 billion senior unsecured revolving credit facility with a three-year maturity. Allegheny plans to use the money from the new credit facility for general corporate purposes and capital expenditure for its unregulated plants. The new credit facility will increase and replace AE Supply’s existing $400 million revolving credit facility, which was scheduled to mature in May 2011. The withdrawals under this credit facility will bear interest that is calculated based on the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) along with a margin based on AE Supply’s senior unsecured credit rating. As of now the margin on LIBOR-based loans is 3.5%. Allegheny is focused on strengthening its liquidity position and improve its financial flexibility by reducing interest burden. The company in recent times has concentrated on ...

Entergy Corp.’s (ETR) proposed spin-off of its Non-utility Nuclear power business has been relegated to fiscal 2010. Recently, the New York Public Service Commission’s two administrative law judges in a ruling stated their apprehension regarding the new company having the financial viability to operate three units located in the state of New York. Of this, two units are located in the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County and a reactor at the James A. Fitzpatrick station in Oswego County. The New York Public Service Commission expressed its apprehension that the $3.5 billion worth of long-term unsecured bonds that Entergy plans to issue for the spin-off will drag down the bond rating of the new company, affecting its financial capacity. The Commission has also relegated its next hearing to December 2009 followed by a final decision on the spin-off in January 2010. Entergy has been ...

Entergy Corporation’s (ETR) utility subsidiary Entergy Arkansas announced yesterday that it will reduce its retail electricity rates from September 1, 2009. New Orleans-based Entergy is primarily engaged in electric power production and retail distribution operations. The company owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000MW of electricity generating capacity. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. With a cumulative capacity of 8,000MW, the company is the second largest nuclear power generator in the U.S. The curtailment in rates is for passing on the benefits of recent fall in natural gas prices to its customers. The company filed with the Arkansas Public Service Commission notifying the reduction of 0.346 cents per kilowatt-hour usage in the fuel-cost portion of electric bills to 1.206 cents.     As per company estimates this will reduce the average monthly bill of a typical residential ...

Entergy Corporation (ETR) announced fiscal second-quarter EPS of $1.23 that was just a cent short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.24. However year-over-year EPS fell 23 cents, the pain came from higher refueling and outages (both planned and unplanned) at its nuclear power plants.   New Orleans-based Entergy is primarily engaged in electric power production and retail distribution operations. The company owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000MW of electricity generating capacity. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

The company with a cumulative capacity of 8,000MW is the second largest nuclear power generator in the U.S. Entergy operates through five subsidiaries: Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Gulf States, Entergy Louisiana, Entergy Mississippi and Entergy New Orleans.   Entergy’s revenues fell 22.8% year over year to $2.5 billion in the quarter with Electricity (down 24%), Natural Gas (down 46.6%), and Competitive businesses (down

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Entergy Corp. (ETR) recently got a breather as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a pending half-yearly extension on its spin-off effort. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given Entergy an additional six months to get the pending regulatory approvals in New York and Vermont and procure the required financing to spin off five nuclear plants. Earlier in May, Entergy had requested a six-month extension to tide over the hurdles.

Entergy wants to spin off the nuclear plants as a new company – Enexus Energy Corp. The nuclear plants are Pilgrim in Plymouth, Massachusetts; Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Vermont; Indian Point in Westchester County, New York; Fitzpatrick in Oswego County, New York and the Palisades plant in Covert, Michigan.

Entergy plans to finish the spin-off of its non-utility nuclear power business by end of 2009. The spin-off will leave the company with five regulated utilities and other assets in the

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Entergy Generates Disappointing Q1'09 ResultsEntergy Corp. (ETR) released financial results for the 1st quarter of 2009 in which the company reported a 23.8% decrease in earnings of $235.3 million, or $1.20 per diluted share ($1.22 basic), compared to $308.7 million, or $1.56 per diluted share ($1.60 basic), in the year-ago quarter.Ongoing operating earnings were reported at $252.6 million, or $1.29 per share, compared with $308.7 million, or $1.56 per share, in the comparable prior-year quarter.Operating revenues in the reported quarter decreased 2.6% to $2.79 billion from $2.86 billion in the prior-year quarter.Cash flow provided by operating activities decreased in the 1st quarter of 2009 as compared to the year-ago period due to lower net income, and changes in other regulatory assets.Outlook: Entergy reaffirmed its fiscal 2009 outlook and expects EPS in the range of $6.70 - $7.30. As-reported ...

Allegheny Energy, Inc. (AYE) reported financial results for the 1st quarter of 2009.Adjusted net income for the 1st quarter of 2009 decreased by $22.0 million compared with the year-ago period.Adjusted operating revenues increased by $49.8 million in the reported quarter, reflecting higher generation rates in Pennsylvania and Maryland, increased purchased power cost recovery in Virginia and higher sales to third parties. These benefits were partially offset by reduced generation volume due to lower power plant availability and less demand.Adjusted EBITDA for the 1st quarter of 2009 was $328.2 million, an increase of $5.1 million compared to the same quarter of the prior year. AYE continues to benefit through its stable and regulated electric power operations.In addition, the company has consistently paid quarterly dividends after reinstating them in December 2007, which was previously suspended in December of 2002 as the company ...

Allegheny Energy Inc. (AYE) is engaged in both regulated electricity and natural gas distribution utility operations, as well as in the unregulated wholesale energy markets.Going forward, AYE's positive investment factors include higher generation rates in Pennsylvania and Maryland, higher residential usage, approvals for transmission projects, and steady progress with scrubbers.Looking ahead, we expect that the company's regulated delivery utility business will provide steady earnings growth while the disposal of retail distribution operations in Virginia will provide much needed liquidity infusion. This would be partially offset by higher emission and hedging costs, higher taxes, lower commodity prices and higher coal prices. Accordingly, we maintain a BUY recommendation on AYE common stock with a six-month target price of $31.75, coupled with the regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share, which we deem sustainable and secure, represents annualized total return potential of 28.1%....