Exelon-Constellation merger seeks regulatory OK

Monday, 23 May 2011 Exelon Corporation and Constellation Energy have filed for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval of their proposed merger. In the filing, the companies commit themselves to divesting three of Constellation's non-nuclear power plants totalling 2648 MWe in a step to ensure the merger will not cause power market or competitive concerns in the PJM (Pennsylvania, Jersey, Maryland) Power Pool in which they operate. In a further step to ensure the share of generation in PJM controlled by the merged company falls below FERC limits, the companies say they will also sell 500 MW of baseload energy under contracts to 2015. This step is being taken because marketing agreements already in place give Constellation an 85% share of the output of Constellation Nuclear Energy Group's units in the period to 2014. From the beginning of 2015, Constellation's share of the output is reduced to 50.1%, bringing the generation controlled by the merged company below FERC limits.