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D.C. Regulators Approve Exelon's $7 Billion Takeover Of Pepco (washingtonpost.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from WashingtonPost: District regulators approved a $6.8 billion merger between Pepco Holdings and Exelon on Wednesday, creating the largest publicly-held utility in the country. The merger means that Pepco will now be absorbed by a company with the largest number of nuclear reactors in the country and widespread operations throughout the mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and New England. In voting 2 to 1 to approve the deal, the D.C. Public Service Commission said it "was in the public interest," noting that it would deposit $72.8 million in a "customer investment fund," set aside $11.25 million for energy efficiency and conservation programs targeted toward low-income residents, and carve out $21.55 million for pilot projects such as modernizing the electric distribution grid. "These benefits, among others, would not be available to District ratepayers if the merger is not approved," the commission said in a statement.
Guess who eventually will pay for that $72.8 millions?
No gift is worth a reduction in competition. Will we ever learn?
I don't know about the Exelon side, but Pepco was totally blindsided by the commission's original ruling. They were in meetings, watching the vote live, and they had no fallback plan in case it didn't go through.
The Pepco folks are surprised it appears to have gone through now, and they wouldn't be shocked if something derailed it at the last moment.
Or come close to it. Like telecoms who promise to build out rural internet, they'll just not pay, then claim some BS hardship, and pay a team of lawyers and lobbyists 1/10th of the price, buy up politicians via small 5-figure campaign bribes/donations, and ultimately knock all that down like $6 million.
What matters is what your Congress critter thinks.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
When I first saw the headline, I thought it read Pepsico. I was afraid they'd now screw up Mountain Dew. Having realized my mistake, I am resting easier now thank you.
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
In other words, they simply increased the depth and breadth of bribe money thrown around the beltway and the deal got done.
There isn't any incentive for them to "modernize the power grid" so I can only wonder what that's a code word for. I suspect it means something like "make the necessary upgrades in their corner of the grid so they can move power around between their own generation sources to reduce their own costs."
I think in the vast majority of situations, the politician says what he does is good for the public... Whether it is or not.
God spoke to me
"carve out $21.55 million for pilot projects such as modernizing the electric distribution grid."
What a concept, a utility company "carving" out money to maintain the system they have a monopoly on. People wonder how our national infrastructure got into the horrible shape it is now...
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Oh it's not. This money is going to the public. The real bribes involve government-industrial revolving doors and payments to obscure banks and holding companies in third world countries. You'll never see the real bribe amounts published, or to whom they were paid.
If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
that is because, over and over and over and over, businesses, particularly big businesses, are more than happy to do ANYTHING to make an extra buck.
Dump mercury/arsenic/anything they don't need into sewers, storm drains, barrels they throw in the dump, nearest river or ditch
Predatory pricing/monopolies/cartels/price fixing
Not paying wages, hiring people to beat up/kill union workers/strikers
Tax Evasion
Just recently bankers were caught fixing international interest rates [libor? sp?]
That's how businesses get "regulated". They SO EGREGIOUSLY kill, cheat, steal, evade that the gov't has to step in. Or else people would have to just show up and start shooting the executives.
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
"...it would deposit $72.8 million in a "customer investment fund," set aside $11.25 million for energy efficiency and conservation programs targeted toward low-income residents, and carve out $21.55 million for pilot projects such as modernizing the electric distribution grid."
So basically these companies bought off the regulatory commission to the tune of some 100 million that will probably never make it to the slated end projects.
Is there any level of American government that can't be bought?
blindly antisocialist = antisocial
. . . . because for months, after the initial and second disapproval, you constantly heard commercials with paid shills, excuse me, Local Concerned Citizens extolling the virtues of the merger. I'd be curious to know just how large the advertising budget was for the PR effort. Likely, in the millions of dollars. Which makes you wonder, just how much will Excelon be making, that they can shell out all this coin JUST to be the local electric utility. . .
Americans need to learn the difference between communism and socialism. They're not the same thing.
- chrish
Pepco is a power distribution company: it has not generated any power since they sold all their power plants to Calpine in 2010. Exelon is buying retail customers for its generation output.
Neither of those countries could really be considered Communist anymore. Oh I know China still uses the name and still has the party, and some things remain nationalized, but it's a vast oversimplification to label them Communist anymore. Of course I'm speaking purely economically, not about their system of government or the amount of political freedom.
Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
Where's Teddy Roosevelt when you need him?
Only crack the nuts that crack. You don't put the ones that don't crack in the sack.
Fortunately the generation and market side of the companies has to be treated separately. In that area of the country PJM handles the the bulk electrical market and transmission and even there the network people are kept separate from the market people. The network side is concerned with ensuring reliability of the grid market people be damned while the markets side is concerned with meeting the network demand at the lowest price. Across the country there are other large companies like CA ISO, ERCOT, MidWest ISO, TVA, etc that all fill a similar role to the one PJM does.
Time to offend someone
Americans need to learn the difference between communism and socialism. They're not the same thing.
True, they're not the same thing. Just the same in the way that really matters: some people are, by disposition, born being slaves to other people who, by disposition, get to own them. The more productive, innovative, and hard working you are, the more of a slave you are required to be. If the usual apologists for mere socialism are correct, then you're just a bit less of a slave in that more watered down version. Sort of like being kind of pregnant, I suppose.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
Why would an oil company buy a soda/restaurant company?