NY Regulators To Decide On Iberdrola's Energy East Buy Aug 27
Posted by CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE at 7:55 AMMADRID -(Dow Jones)- Spanish power utility Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) next week expects a decision by New York State regulators on conditions for its $4.6 billion purchase of U.S. utility Energy East Corp. (EAS), an Iberdrola press official said Monday.
The N.Y. Public Service Commission will have a preliminary discussion of the issue Wednesday, and on Aug. 27 is slated to take a decision on what conditions it will set.
Iberdrola will only buy Energy East if it can keep the company's wind power assets, Iberdrola's Chief Executive Ignacio Galan said in July.
Administrative Law Judge Rafael Epstein in June reviewed the proposal and recommended blocking the transaction arguing it doesn't satisfy the public interest requirement of state utilities law. The judge is advising the New York utility regulators.
Epstein's non-binding opinion recommends a series of conditions the commission should impose if it approves the deal, including limits on the generating plants the Spanish company may own.