Dive Brief:

• Connecticut's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has issued a final ruling approving the merger of Spain's Iberdrola USA and UIL Holding, creating a utility with more than 700,000 electric and gas customers, the Hartford Business Journal reports. 
• Last month, regulators conditionally approved the deal, including a settlement that involved $40 million in bill credits for customers of United Illuminating, the Southern Connecticut Gas Co., and the Connecticut Natural Gas Co.
• The approval passed by a vote of 2-1, with the dissenting commissioner indicating concerns over "insufficient public benefit, particularly with regard to system resiliency efforts."

Dive Insight:

Iberdrola can move ahead with plans to acquire UIL Holding and its three utilities, but the dissent in Connecticut's 2-1 decision is interesting: Commissioner Michael Caron, among other issues, said hiring commitments needed to be further examined and he questioned the value of rate freezes, which he said might just delay an increase of future costs.

"Iberdrola is recognized throughout the world as a leader in energy fields. My dissenting vote is not based on any Iberdrola shortcomings nor do I dispute many of the findings reached by my fellow commissioners," he wrote. "Rather, I maintain that the applicants offered insufficient public benefit, particularly with regard to system resiliency efforts that were already underway, and with regard to the timing and recovery of costs associated with those efforts."

The state's approval was contingent upon a host of items, including: $40 million in ratepayer credits; a $30 million pledge to clean up environmental conditions of the English Station site in New Haven; and a commitment to keep UI management and headquarters in the Connecticut.

PURA Chairman Arthur House said that while the companies' first proposal had many positive aspects, "Iberdrola and UIL took to heart the message we sent in our preliminary ruling, measurably improving both the public benefit content of their proposal, and also making specific, measurable commitments that ensure the flow of benefits to utility ratepayers."

PURA had rejected an intial merger proposal in June, raising questions about how the combined utility would be run, but then last month gave conditional approval to a deal that included rate freezes and assurances of local control. The deal would create a utility with 6.7 GW of installed capacity. 

Vice Chairman John Betkoski, PURA's lead commissioner on the docket, said he believes that "the combination of direct and indirect ratepayer benefits and public benefits in the settlement tip the scale in favor of finding that the enhanced proposal is now in the public interest."

The companies hope to finalize the deal by the end of the month.