New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission gave its blessing last week to a merger between New England Electric System and an English high-voltage power transmission company, according to a statement issued by NE-ES. The multi-billion dollar merger between NEES – which includes among its properties Narragansett Electric Co. in Rhode Island and Granite State Electric in New Hampshire – and National Grid Group was announced last December. National Grid is the world’s largest privately owned power transmission company and is valued at roughly $12.4 billion. At the time the merger was announced NEES, which serves 1.3 million customers throughout New England, was valued at $3.2 billion.
The merger has already been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Department of Justice/Federal Trade Commission, the Committee on Foreign Investment, the Vermont Public Service Board and the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control, according to NEES officials. And the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy has certified to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the merger would not interfere with its authority or ability to protect customers of NEES subsidiaries in that state, NEES officials reported.
Jackie Barry, a NEES spokeswoman, said that the company submitted an “informational filing to Rhode Island, as we did in Massachusetts. And we have asked for the state’s support with the Securities and Exchange Commission.” NEES was still awaiting the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission’s response last Tuesday, she said.
Adrienne South-gate, chief legal counsel for RIPUC, said the state’s regulatory agency doesn’t have jurisdiction over the merger. NEES, she explained, simply wants a letter stating the proposed merger will have no effect on RIPUC’s ability to regulate the merged company’s retail affiliate in Rhode Island.
“We regulated Narragansett (Electric) before the merger and we’ll continue to regulate Narragansett after the merger,” said Southgate, adding that the RIPUC will send a letter stating that to the SEC.
Approvals are still needed from the SEC and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
If the merger wins all necessary approvals, it would mark National Grid’s entry into the American energy market.
