Longview Power LLC yesterday won a one-month delay in a showdown with contractors after telling a bankruptcy judge that there is hope of a settlement in the long-running disputes, according to a Dow Jones newswire report yesterday. Judge Brendan Shannon said he would "reluctantly" delay until Nov. 12 a court fight over cash between the troubled West Virginia plant operator and contractors that helped build the $2 billion facility. The cash fight that has consumed weeks of attorney time, the judge warned, won't make or break Longview's chances of a turnaround. He urged the combatants to focus on the larger questions of how to revamp a $1.2 billion debt load in chapter 11 while fixing the technical troubles that have plagued the facility. Longview’s contractors have pushed for a fast hearing on who controls some $58 million worth of letters of credit. Longview says that it's entitled to access the money to keep going and warns that it may be down to its last $1 million by the end of November. Longview, which operates a 700-megawatt coal-powered plant in Maidsville, W.Va., is the largest privately funded project in West Virginia history. The company filed for chapter 11 protection Aug. 30.
