New Haven utility parent UIL Holdings has asked – for the second time – for Connecticut regulators to approve its $3 billion acquisition by Spain energy giant Iberdrola.
The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in late June made an initial ruling denying UIL’s application, mainly because PURA didn’t know how the change in control would benefit ratepayers of its subsidiaries United Illuminating, Connecticut Natural Gas and Southern Connecticut Gas.
Rather than face an outright denial in the final decision, UIL and Iberdrola withdrew the application, saying it wanted to start the process over from scratch. The filing by the two energy firms on Friday did just that.
“With this new application, we believe that we’ve effectively addressed all of the points of concern that were outlined in PURA’s draft decision relating to the original application,” said James P. Torgerson, UIL president and CEO. “We are fully prepared to move forward in this process.”
If the acquisition is approved, Torgerson will lead the new company, called Iberdrola USA, with 3.1 million customers across seven geographic markets served by Iberdrola’s utility subsidiaries in New York and Maine, and UIL’s holdings in southern Connecticut and western Massachusetts.