The Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control will re-evaluate its oversight role in the $17.5 billion merger between Hartford’s Northeast Utilities and Boston’s NStar.
When the merger between the two utility companies was announced in October, DPUC initially said it wouldn’t review the transaction for approval because merger dealt with the two holding companies and wouldn’t create a significant change in the two Connecticut-based utility subsidiaries: Connecticut Light & Power and Yankee Gas. That decision was re-affirmed by DPUC last week.
DPUC announced today it will have a jurisdictional hearing on the matter, reconsidering its role in the approval process. So far, Massachusetts is the only state review the merger for approval. The DPUC hearing has not been scheduled yet.
The DPUC’s reversal came after Attorney General George Jepsen said the agency had authority over the merger. State Sen. John Fonfara, D-Hartford, and State Rep. Vickie Nardello, D-Prospect – co-chairs of the General Assembly Energy & Technology Committee – also pressed DPUC to review the merger.
“This proposed merger would create the largest utility in New England, affecting well over a million Connecticut residents. Determining DPUC’s jurisdiction over the merger is the first step toward ensuring our ratepayer’s interests are protected,” Fonfara said in a statement.
The merger will create one holding company for four electric utilities and two natural gas utilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
