CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

ALBANY -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is urging Iberdrola SA and state regulators to hammer out a settlement on the Spanish utility's $4.5 billion merger with Energy East Corp.

Schumer, who has been outspoken about the potential benefits of the deal for the state's alternative energy supply, met last Friday with Garry Brown, chairman of the five-person Public Service Commission that must approve the deal.

"It was a very positive meeting," Schumer said Monday in a conference call with reporters.

The PSC isn't expected to vote on the deal until its August meeting at the earliest. Iberdrola and Energy East have been going through a process, much like a legal trial, in which the two companies have tried to justify the merger to an administrative law judge.

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