Calpine Wins Approval to Sell Power Plant Stake

Calpine Corp. won U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval to sell a stake in a San Francisco-area power plant to a General Electric Co. unit to preserve a 10-year contract with PG&E; Corp.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland authorized the sale of Calpine’s 35% share and the plant’s assets to General Electric’s GE Energy Financial Services for $44 million.

The sale would allow San Jose-based Calpine to keep more than $190 million under the contract. The plant, known as the Russell City project, will be worth $649 million to $841 million once it’s up and running in 2010, Calpine said.