Dive Brief:
- Dominion Resources and Utah-based gas company Questar have filed merger applications with the Public Service Commission of Utah and the Wyoming Public Service Commission, and expect to close the all-cash deal by the end of the year.
- The companies have also informed regulators at the the Idaho Public Utilities Commission of their intention to go ahead with the deal. Questar, headquartered in Salt Lake City, serves almost 1 million customers in the three-state area.
- If approved, the deal would create an integrated energy company serving about 2.5 million electric utility customers and 2.3 million gas utility customers in seven states.
Dive Insight:
Dominion's merger applications mirror a consolidation going on in the wider sector, as utilities attempt to expand their natural gas operations to take advantage of record low commodity prices and the impacts of carbon regulation. Duke, for example, is currently pursuing a similar deal to acquire Piedmont Natural Gas, and additionally is partnered with Dominion on the $5.1 billion Atlantic Coast pipeline.
Dominion and Questar expects the deal to close in 2016, which aims to create a utility with more than 15,500 miles of natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipelines, significant gas storage infrastructure and more than 24,000 MW of capacity.
Closing will also require Questar’s shareholders to approve the deal, while in February, the Federal Trade Commission granted early termination under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act.
