U.S. firms win RI suit

U.S. firms win RI suit

DES MOINES, Iowa (Dow Jones): Two indirect units of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co.'s, Himpurna California Energy Ltd. and Patuha Power Ltd., received interim awards in arbitration lawsuits against the Republic of Indonesia.

In a press release Wednesday, MidAmerican said an international arbitration panel decided on the awards.

As reported May 4, a U.N.-supervised arbitration panel ruled that Indonesian electricity utility PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara should pay damages totaling $572.3 million to MidAmerican, formerly known as CalEnergy Co.

Under terms of the May settlement, Himpurna was awarded $391.7 million, and Patuha Power was awarded $180.6 million.

In early June, PT Perusahaan filed a lawsuit to annul the May decision, alleging that Indonesian law had been "ignored or misinterpreted."

MidAmerican said the interim awards note that Indonesia defaulted on rules for the arbitration that were agreed to by both parties.