State of West Virginia,
Public Service Commission

		“Saber's track record ...impressed us and was solid evidence that Saber's activist approach is effective in protecting ratepayer interests.” — Richard Hitt,    General Counsel of the West Virginia    Public Service Commission

The State of West Virginia's Public Service Commission retained Saber Partners as its financial advisor on the first environmental securitization bond offering in the state. The Commission selected Saber through a competitive process that included such other firms as JP Morgan and Bear Stearns. Saber advised the Commission on protecting ratepayer interests in bond financings for environmental control facilities by two of the State's largest investor-owned utilities, Monongahela Power Company and the Potomac Edison Company, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Allegheny Power-Energy Inc. (NYSE:AYE).

The financing was the result of legislation passed in 2005 by the West Virginia legislature. It authorized the Commission to permit bond sales backed by a special charge on consumer electric bills and guaranteed by the State's regulatory authority in order to pay for certain environmental control facilities at power plants.