Monday, February 22, 2016

Is Georgetown Liable if SunEdison Declares Bankruptcy?

Georgetown has a Purchase Power Agreement with SunEdison for electricity power to be delivered to Georgetown in late 2016 or early 2017. The solar power plant is currently under construction in West Texas. If SunEdison declares bankruptcy prior to completion of the solar plant, what are the legal entanglements that may ensnare Georgetown?

Hawaiian Electric thinks there may well be unacceptable consequences to them if their PPA is in force during a bankruptcy.(Hawaiian Electric)

"This was a pre-emptive move by Hawaiian Electric
Don't think canceling these PPAs wasn't well thought-out. Hawaiian Electric wanted to reduce the risk in its own portfolio by ridding itself of SunEdison before it was too late. If the PPAs were still outstanding and SunEdison went into bankruptcy, it could have frozen resources and space on the grid. Here is the direct quote from the utility's filing with regulators:
Hawaiian Electric must carefully evaluate each Project to ensure its success and that such Project will not languish due to incompletion or being subject to bankruptcy laws and rules. In such instance, Hawaiian Electric would have to continue to include such resources in its planning efforts until they were terminated or removed from bankruptcy court supervision and could begin work again, taking up valuable limited space on the grid in the meantime and delaying the procurement and installation of projects that would be able to be completed and provide significant benefits to Hawaiian Electric's customers and the State's Renewable Portfolio Standards goals.
That's a scathing statement showing how little confidence Hawaiian Electric has that SunEdison won't end up in bankruptcy. In fact, it's basically betting SunEdison will go bankrupt and is saying it doesn't want any part of that process."

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