Maryland delays ruling on Exelon-Pepco merger

OREANDA-NEWS. March 25, 2015. Maryland utility regulators have delayed by a month the deadline for completing their review of Exelon's proposed \\$6.8bn merger with Pepco Holdings amid opposition from state officials to the deal going through as proposed.

The Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) yesterday extended its review deadline to 8 May after the utilities last week asked for more time. The commission initially faced a deadline to finish reviewing the merger application last month but has extended that deadline twice. Pepco Holdings owns the utilities Delmarva Power and Potomac Electric Power (Pepco) in Maryland.

Exelon and Pepco this month reached two settlements over the merger, but Maryland still opposes the deal because of concerns it would stifle competition. The state worries that Exelon would have a financial interest to slow the growth of distributed energy in Maryland to benefit its large ownership of power plants.

The Maryland energy administration last week urged the state utilities commission to reject the merger deal and faulted commitments the companies made to other stakeholders as an attempt to take "endless bites at the apple" in improving the deal. It also criticized as inadequate reliability commitments the companies made in their merger proposal.

Exelon and Pepco in their first settlement, reached on 2 March with the Alliance for Solar Choice, committed to provide a clear and transparent process for interconnecting behind-the-meter renewable energy projects in the state. The companies last week reached a settlement with Montgomery and Prince George's counties that included reliability commitments and an expansion of energy efficiency programs.

The Maryland utilities commission yesterday said it would hold settlement hearings about the merger on 15-17 April. Exelon has planned to close the merger deal by September 2015.

The merger still requires approval by utility regulators in Delaware and the District of Columbia. The deal has received approvals from federal energy and anti-trust authorities and state regulators in Virginia and New Jersey. Delaware is reviewing a proposed settlement between the companies and stakeholders in that state.