Nevada Power suit hearing delayed

Monday, Sept. 16, 2002 | 8:44 a.m.

A court hearing to determine whether Nevada Power Co. and a sister utility will have to post collateral as defendants in a lawsuit filed by a subsidiary of Enron Corp. has been continued to Oct. 3.

Enron Power Marketing Inc. of Houston is seeking $307 million from Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power Co. of Reno in connection with an energy contract that Enron discontinued last spring. That amount represents the difference between the contract price the utilities were to pay for Enron's energy through this summer and current market prices for wholesale electricity.

The two utilities, both subsidiaries of Sierra Pacific Resources, claim they do not owe any money to Enron's subsidiary. Enron Power Marketing indicated it discontinued the contract because of the shaky financial condition of Sierra Pacific and its subsidiaries.

The lawsuit is being heard by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez of the Southern District of New York. Gonzalez on Friday conducted a hearing on the issue of whether the utilities should post collateral but decided instead on the continuance.