The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority released a draft decision today asserting jurisdiction in the merger of Northeast Utilities and NStar, reversing a much-maligned ruling made in June. A final decision will come on January 18.
In its draft, the regulators cited information provided by the attorney general’s office and the Officer of Consumer Counsel, which appealed the orginal ruling.
“The Authority is mindful of certain milestones relating to the completion of the proposed merger and will dedicate all necessary staff resources to achieve a complete and thorough regulatory review consistent with that time schedule,” PURA said in its draft.
The draft decision also says the authority is “legally obliged to review the proposed merger to ensure that after any resulting merger CL&P and Yankee will have the qualifications and ability to provide safe, adequate, reliable and reasonably-priced services for Connecticut customers.”
Northeast Utilities is the parent of Connecticut Light & Power and Yankee Gas.