RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina officials expect to lay out a schedule for their consideration of Duke Energy’s proposed takeover of Progress Energy.
Sam Watson, general counsel for the North Carolina Utilities Commission, said the agency will release a preliminary schedule Monday or Tuesday.
The $13.7 billion merger would create the nation’s largest electric utility and service 7 million customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
The merger received approval from federal regulators Friday after more than a year of considering competition concerns. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission twice rejected the merger because of concerns it would reduce competition for wholesale electricity in the Carolinas.
FERC’s Friday approval imposed additional conditions on the merger, which include requiring regular status updates on transmission upgrades. The FERC stipulated that the upgrades must be completed by June 2015 and not charged to wholesale customers.
The companies, in a joint press release Monday, said they expect to make a compliance filing with the FERC within 15 days to accept the terms.
“Receiving the FERC’s conditional orders last Friday is a major milestone for this transaction,” said Bill Johnson, chairman, president and CEO of Progress Energy in the press release. “Both companies have accelerated the integration planning efforts necessary to complete this transaction by July 1 and begin to deliver the substantial benefits of the merger as soon as possible.”
The merger still needs North Carolina’s blessing, as well as approval from the Public Service Commission of South Carolina.
The seven-member PSCSC is scheduled to address the merger at its Wednesday meeting. Dukes Scott, executive director of South Carolina’s Office of Regulatory Staff, said he expects the commission will determine if a hearing is needed.
The merger has already cleared requirements set by the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Communications Commission and the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
When it was rejected by the FERC, federal regulators suggested the energy companies sell power plants, build new transmission lines or concede control of their transmission system to a regional operator. The companies agreed to spend $110 million to update the infrastructure of the transmission lines in order to increase electricity flow into the Carolinas from outside suppliers. They also agreed to not burden customers with severance costs to employees laid off in the merger and promised to cut retail rates by $70 million.
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Allen Reed can be reached on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Allen_Reed
