The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities will review the $4.3 billion merger between Hartford’s Northeast Utilities and Boston’s NStar under a higher standard than other utility mergers.
The DPU decided this month to hold the merger to a standard that it must provide a net benefit to the Massachusetts energy community. Previously, mergers were held to a standard that they caused no net harm.
The merger must get several regulatory approvals before it is finalized, and the Massachusetts approval is considered to be the hardest approval to get. Shareholders from both companies already green-lighted the transaction.
The Massachusetts DPU decision is expected sometime mid-summer. NU predicts the merger will be complete by the end of the third quarter.
The Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control initially ruled that it had no authority over the merger, as it joins two holding companies and does substantially change the makeup of any Connecticut utility. Lawmakers and the attorney general opposed that ruling, and the DPUC is reviewing its decision.
The merger will create New England’s largest utility holding company with 3.5 million customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The four electric and six natural gas utilities coming under the guise of this new Northeast Utilities includes Connecticut subsidiaries Yankee Gas and Connecticut Light & Power.
