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D.C. Regulators Approve Exelon's $7 Billion Takeover Of Pepco (washingtonpost.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the straight-from-the-source dept.

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.

10 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. free money? never happens!! by xlyz · · Score: 2

    Guess who eventually will pay for that $72.8 millions?
    No gift is worth a reduction in competition. Will we ever learn?

    1. Re:free money? never happens!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      72.8 million
      11.25 million
      21.55 million

      Talk about petty cash!

      Higher level management in the new company will get that and more in annual salary.

      Those numbers won't even pay the costs to open the spreadsheets.

      Do the phrase "smartest guys in the room" ring a bell?

    2. Re:free money? never happens!! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

      No gift is worth a reduction in competition.

      This doesn't reduce competition, because the service areas don't overlap. Each company is already a local monopoly.

    3. Re:free money? never happens!! by SeaFox · · Score: 2

      This doesn't reduce competition, because the service areas don't overlap. Each company is already a local monopoly.

      It makes the new entity a much larger force politically, which can have a negative impact of future regulatory decisions.
      Also, it makes it harder to get away from the company.

      Since this "they don't overlap" argument was already trotted out for the cableco mergers, let me say that if I really didn't like my Internet service offerings in my area, I wouldn't call and bitch about it to the Tier 1 tech support agents who literally can't do anything about it, I would move. It's harder to do that if the provider owns a much larger swath of the country, though.

    4. Re:free money? never happens!! by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 2

      The utility companies can't negotiate content deals (something to give them leverage against i.e. Viacom) nor throttle your service (leverage against consumers) nor anything analogous. Utility rates are only negotiated with local governments who are only concerned with their specific jurisdiction, and no other jurisdictions come into play at any time in that process. Likewise, how big or small the company is doesn't have much of an impact on anything.

  2. Re:They'll weasel out of that $72/$21/$11 million by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or come close to it.

    They don't need to weasel out of it. $72+$21+$11 million is nothing. That is a rounding error on one month of Exelon's revenue.

  3. Thank god! by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 2

    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
  4. Gee whiz by Archfeld · · Score: 2

    "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 ?
  5. Re:They'll weasel out of that $72/$21/$11 million by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 2

    What a one sided article...

    DC raised the min wage already and is planning to raise it again.

    The conditions under which the deal with the City was made no longer exist. You can't expect Walmart not to redo the math after the terms change.

    This is why the city probably won't sue, the lawyers will say "yea, you can probably force the issue, but only if you grant an exception so Walmart doesn't have to pay the new higher wages or pay into the family leave fund."

  6. Re:We need COMMUNISM NOW! by ScentCone · · Score: 2

    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.