Calpine Posts Loss of $589 Million in Period

Power producer Calpine Corp. said Monday that its first-quarter loss widened to $589.4 million from $168.7 million as revenue declined and reorganization costs mounted.

The net loss, which Calpine disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, came as revenue for the three months ended March 31 fell 34% to $1.36 billion from $2.05 billion in the same period last year. The per-share loss widened to $1.23 from 38 cents.

San Jose-based Calpine, which has been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since late December, also recorded reorganization costs of $298.2 million. That was mainly related to expenses for canceling a Canadian energy contract.

Last month, Calpine reported a $9.9-billion loss for 2005, as the company was saddled with debt and a decaying portfolio of electricity plants. The loss, which represented mostly noncash charges, nearly equaled annual revenue of $10.1 billion.

In April, Calpine revealed plans to close about 20 power plants and dismiss 775 workers, continuing its retreat from a rapid expansion that had buried the company in more than $22 billion of debt and drove it into bankruptcy.

Calpine has shed more than 1,100 employees since filing for bankruptcy protection. It has pruned annual expenses by about $150 million during its reorganization. Power plants that were available for service operated at 30% of capacity, on average, in the first quarter, down from 42% a year earlier, Calpine said. Total generation slid 19% to 15,479 megawatt-hours.

A megawatt-hour is enough to power about 750 average California homes for an hour.

Calpine listed more than $22.5 billion in liabilities and $26.6 billion in assets when it filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 21. Monday’s filing listed assets of $20.5 billion.