City continues to explore Aquila buy

City continues to explore Aquila buy

Aug 2 - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News - James Amos The Pueblo Chieftain, Colo.

City Council heard from its consultants Monday about the possibility of buying the Aquila electric utility and will continue to work on the issue.

Consultant Philip Movish told a councilman before the closed-door meeting that the purchase "can be doable" for the city.

Aquila has put its Colorado operations up for sale, which consist of the electric distribution networks in Pueblo, Canon City, Rocky Ford and Cripple Creek. There also is a less-used generation plant in Pueblo, although Aquila buys most of its power in Colorado from Xcel.

Xcel is said to be interested in buying the network too.

Council President Bob Schilling said after Monday night's meeting that more information needs to be gathered.

"We still have questions that they (the consultants) need to answer," he said.

The city's consultants will present their recommendation in a public session at City Council's meeting on Monday. Council members also are scheduled to hold a preliminary vote that night on putting a purchase-related question on the November ballot.

City officials declined to say Monday what they thought of feasibility of the possible purchase, citing the city's confidentiality agreement with Aquila.

For far more extensive news on the energy/power visit: http://www.energycentral.com .