Dynegy's South Bay Power Plant in San Diego, California, was imploded. The demolition of the smokestacks of the outmoded plant was watched by more than 1,000 people. Roseton and Danskammer sales The sale of the Roseton and Danskammer plants—a condition of Dynegy's emergence from bankruptcy—proceeded slowly. On November 8, 2012, members of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 320 struck the Roseton and Danskammer plants after a contract extension expired and Dynegy continued to seek cuts in retirement benefits. Dynegy's bankruptcy also left $17 million in unpaid property taxes in Orange County, New York. This created a budget crisis in the county which threatened to close local schools in Ulster County and create severe cutbacks in Orange County services. On December 10, 2012, Dynegy announced it would sell the Roseton plant to Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy for $19.5 million in cash. The sale closed on April 30, 2013. The Danskammer plant sale was far more troubled. The plant was heavily damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, rendering it inoperable. On December 10, Dynegy said that ICS NY Holdings would buy the plant for $3.5 million and demolish it. But the ICS sale stalled. Under the terms of the auction, ICS NY had to replace or find a substitute for its credit support agreement, and pay its portion of the plant's outstanding property taxes. But, Dynegy said, the company never did either. ICS defended itself, saying it was making every economically feasible effort to replace the credit agreement. On May 25, 2013, Dynegy filed suit with the bankruptcy court to force ICA to fulfill its obligations. The court imposed a July 31 deadline for ICS to close the sale, but it did not meet the deadline. Dynegy subsequently sought another buyer. Helios Power Capital, a private equity firm, agreed to purchase the plant for $3.5 million in cash on August 20. The court approved the sale on September 2. Ameren purchase In mid-March 2013, Dynegy purchased three electric generating subsidiaries of Ameren, an Illinois power company. The deal, worth $900 million, involved Ameren's Ameren Energy Generating Co. (Genco); Genco's controlling interest in Electric Energy Inc.; AmerenEnergy Resources Generating Co.; and Ameren Energy Marketing Co. Dynegy formed a subsidiary, Illinois Power Holdings (IPH), to purchase the Ameren subsidiaries. No cash changed hands; rather, IPH agreed to assume $825 million in debt owed by Genco and the other subsidiaries. Ameren also