The Connecticut Fund for the Environment has requests to intervene in the state’s review of the proposed merger between Hartford-based Northeast Utilities and Boston-based NStar.
CFE is not opposing the $4.7 billion merger between the two utility parents, but the fund wants to ensure the 9,500 acres of open space owned by NU remain protected after the merger is complete.
The fund intervened on a similar matter in 2000 in the proposed merger of NU and Con Edison, winning an agreement to protect 375 parcels of land in the state.
The merger first was proposed on Oct. 16, 2010, and the companies are waiting on approval from the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority and the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.
If approved, the merger would create the largest New England utility parent with 3.5 million customers in six electric and natural gas subsidiaries in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, including Berlin-based Yankee Gas and Connecticut Light & Power.