Question-and-Answer Session
[Operator Instructions]. Our first question will come from the line of Lasan Johong with RBC Capital Markets.
Lasan Johong - RBC Capital Markets
Good morning, nice quarter. On the recovery of the storm damage, Gary if there is a delay in the legislation or the legislature say, you know we will pass on this one for whatever reasons, what would be the contingency for recovering the storm damage cost?
David M. McClanahan - President and Chief Executive Officer
Why don't we... I'll ask Scott Rozzell to answer that.
Lasan Johong - RBC Capital Markets
Okay.
Scott Rozzell - Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Well Lasan, there is a couple of permutations probably that I might mention. The passage of a legislation is something that we'll be working very hard to achieve and that could be done early in the section or perhaps later on, early in the session requires some procedural steps that are unusual, but which we think are lined up pretty well for this time around. In the event if there is not legislation passed, we have a history of a storm recovery process in the state that allows us to for those costs and recover in this part of the normal rate making process.
Gary L. Whitlock - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Lasan, this is Gary. Our focus really I think we feel confident about the process I outlined in my comment. What we are doing is ensuring frankly of that we have and we do have adequate liquidity as I mentioned, we are going to put a backstop credit facility in Houston Electric. I think the thing that's concerned or has concerned us probably in the near term is really been access to the capital market. And in the... I don't expect it to happen but we would have to go down a path of a rate case to recover these costs and we would look at permanent financing, but I think the key now is to ensure that we have the adequate liquidity which we do, and this process will play out over the next number of months and we feel confident about what I outlined in my prepared comments as the process that we will follow.
Scott Rozzell - Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
And Lasan, David I think mentioned in his comments that securitization process which we have some experience with here in Texas is one that generally enjoys wide spread support because it allows us to get our money relatively quickly, but it also ultimately lowers the cost that is paid by the ultimate customers. Storm restoration recovery periods in the past before we used securitization were actually reasonably short, so you would have a fairly large amount recovered over a fairly short period of time if you were the traditional out. That's why I think most people favor securitization.
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