Davis said the power companies need to "take a haircut" and accept 70 cents on the dollar for the millions of dollars owed them. Mirant says it is is owed about $300 million in power delivered.
Randy Harrison, chief executive of Mirant's Americas Group, attended the four-hour meeting with nine other power executives. There was no immediate reaction to Davis's suggestion. But in a prepared statement, Harrison says the company will try to help ease the California crisis, which has included blackouts for several days.
Mirant, along with other power plant owners, have been criticized by Davis and other politicians for alleged price gouging and market manipulation following the state's 1997 electric power deregulation.
Mirant is a former subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Company. It now operates as a separate publicly traded unit.
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David Wilkening
David Wilkening began his long journalism career as a police reporter for Chicago-area newspapers. He became a writer-editor for major newspapers in Chicago, Washington, Detroit and Florida. He has been a business editor, political editor and travel editor for newspapers and magazines. He tried for a while to be a political operative but did better as an adjunct college professor teaching English and journalism. He is the author of several books, both ghost-written and under his own name. He is also a widely published freelance writer who currently lives in Orlando.
