Energy East asks for Delay

Energy East asks for extention of merger
June 25, 2008 at 1:23 pm by Larry Rulison, Business writer
Energy East Corp. has asked that Iberdrola SA extend the deadline to complete their $4.5 billion merger.

The deadline was today, but the state Public Service Commission has yet to vote on the merger.

Interested parties in the case have until July 3 to respond to a recommended decision made in the case last week by an administrative law judge. The judge recommended that the PSC’s five commissioners approve the deal only with significant conditions.

The PSC next meets July 16, but it’s uncertain if the commissioners will vote on the proposed merger that day.

The agenda for that meeting will likely be issued July 11, the previous Friday. It’s unclear if that will give the commissioners enought time to study the matter.

The deal has huge implications for New York. Energy East has 1.3 million upstate New York customers, and Iberdrola, the largest wind developer in the world, wants to invest $2 billion in wind-energy projects in the state.

In a June 20 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Energy East said that because of the “current schedule” of the proceeding, it has asked Iberdrola to extend the deadline. In a previous SEC filing, Energy East said it was allowed to extend deadline for 6 months.

“Energy East is unable to predict either the outcome of this proceeding or the timing of a (PSC) decision,” the company said in the filing.