IN THIS ISSUE

Renewable energy update

The share of electricity supplied from renewable forms of energy is 90% in Norway and 59% in Austria. The average is 15.7% for the 25 countries of the expanded European Union...

Is “merchant” still a dirty word?

Many bankers lost their jobs in the wake of the Enron collapse, and many independent power plants were put on the market ...

DOE releases guidelines for loan guarantees

New guidelines released by the US Department of Energy in mid-August explain when the US government is prepared to guarantee repayment of commercial debt in energy projects...

New technologies to displace oil: are they financeable?

The threats by Iran to build nuclear weapons, the deteriorating security situation in Iraq, the hostilities in Lebanon and the rebel attacks against oil installations in Nigeria are contributing t...

US power market outlook

Four veteran power market forecasters participated in a round- table discussion at a Chadbourne conference in June about the outlook for US wholesale power markets, which regions of the US offer t...

New rules for pipeline gas quality

A new policy statement issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in July will let each interstate gas pipeline and its customers work out quality standards for gas the pipeline will ...

FERC makes it easier to charge market rates for gas storage

Owners of underground natural gas storage facilities should find it easier to charge unregulated, market-based rates for their services under new rules announced by the Federal Energy Regulatory C...

Court rejects attempt to cancel contract in bankruptcy

A US appeals court appears in a strongly-worded opinion in July to have definitively closed the door on efforts by Mirant, a US independent power company, to use its bankruptcy as justification to...

Environmental update

The International Finance Corporation proposed revisions in early August to some of the environmental guidelines with which it requires borrowers to comply if they want to borrow money from the IFC to ...

IN OTHER NEWS

Transaction structures

Transaction structures and some tax planning ideas are patentable, but should they be? A House subcommittee held a hearing on the subject in July...

Improvements

Improvements to property are sometimes hard to distinguish from repairs.

Altering the terms of a debt instrument

Altering the terms of a debt instrument can sometimes have tax consequences ...

Interest rate swaps

Interest rate swaps must be marked to market for tax purposes at year end by banks, but there is room for disagreement about how to value them ...

Involuntary conversions

“Involuntary conversions” are not easy to achieve...

Foreign tax credit strategies

Foreign tax credit strategies took a hit in proposed regulations the IRS issued in early August...

FIN 48

FIN 48 will require corporations to indicate in their financial statements which of their tax positions may be challenged on audit ...

A rate increase

A rate increase that was later rejected led to more taxable income than a utility wanted. A utility was organized as a parent holding company with five subsidiaries...

Restructuring a contract

Restructuring a contract led to taxable income for a utility...

Indian tribes

Indian tribes will have a harder time issuing tax-exempt bonds under proposed regulations the IRS issued in August.

Sales taxes

Sales taxes will be triggered in Texas when the owner of a company contributes equipment in kind to the company and the company also assumes liability for any loan to which the equipment was subje...

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is losing tax subsidies in Germany.

Minor memos

The IRS committed in a new business plan released in mid-August to issue guidance about when production tax credits can be claimed on electricity generated from biomass.