Subject: caithness big sandy , llc . project
fyi guys . . . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forwarded by jeffery fawcett / et & s / enron on 06 / 27 / 2000
04 : 23 pm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
jeffery fawcett
06 / 27 / 2000 04 : 17 pm
to : drew fossum / et & s / enron @ enron
cc : mary kay miller / et & s / enron @ enron , ronald matthews / et & s / enron @ enron , terry
galassini / et & s / enron @ enron , james centilli / et & s / enron @ enron , darrell
schoolcraft / et & s / enron @ enron , paul cherry / gpgfin / enron @ enron , rich
jolly / et & s / enron @ enron , susan scott / et & s / enron @ enron , julia
white / et & s / enron @ enron , kevin hyatt / et & s / enron @ enron , steven
harris / et & s / enron @ enron
subject : caithness big sandy , llc . project
the project ' s consultant , george briden , of snake hill energy , called me
today to say that caithness corp . has decided to move forward with plans for
the big sandy , llc . project . to refresh your memory , the project is a
proposed ipp to be located about 40 miles south of tw ' s pipeline along
highway 93 , about 2 miles outside of wickieup , arizona . i ' ve attached a
simple bitmap below ( click on it and hit " view " ) indicating the location of
the project relative to transwestern ' s facilities . ultimately , the project
would be built for approx . 1 , 000 mw of generation in two phases . phase 1
will burn approx . 80 , 000 dth / d , and phase 2 will burn an additional 120 , 000
dth / d . initial indications are for the project to be in service in early
2002 , with the lateral pipeline and gas service required as early as q 2 , 2001 .
caithness corp . , based in new york , is a privately held company with diverse
interests including geothermal ( renewable ) electric generation facilities
( coso plant ) in california . george reported that caithness would like for
transwestern to build , own and operate the plant with facility costs ( current
estimate , $ 20 . 3 mm ) to be amortized vis - a - vis a throughput / rate commitment .
caithness would also like the project to be interconnected to el paso ' s
system and the questar southern trails pipeline if that project should ever
be completed .
obviously , we ' ll have to wade throught the legal / regulatory issues
surrounding this deal structure , as well as the requisite credit assurances .
with respect to the former , i think if we view this pipeline
ownership / operation structure more as a financing mechanism with associated
operating agreements , then we ' re probably ok . with respect to the later ,
george assured me that caithness can / will set - up a funding mechanism that
would give transwestern sufficient assurance of payback .
george would like to bring down a couple of representatives from caithness to
meet with transwestern sometime the week of july 10 . he suggested either
omaha or houston for the meeting , inasmuch as he ' d like drew fossum to be
present .
drew , i ' m thinking it might be easier / better to have the meeting here in
houston given our immediate access to maps and engineering data regarding the
lateral pipeline . if you concur , what day ( s ) do you have open that week and
is there an opportunity for you to hop bill ' s plane for either one or both
legs of the trip down here ? i ' ll ask ron matthews and maybe one or two
others to join us so we can cover a fairly broad base of functions in one
sitting .
will you get back with me as soon as you can ? others on the distribution , if
you can sit tight we ' ll get you more information as this meeting date / time
comes together . thanks .