Power Company Is Said to Agree to Buy Another for $11 Billion Fl.

[donsu]

http://nytimes.com/2005/12/19/business/19deal.html?hp&ex=1135054800&en=a90099adf2788f3a&ei=5094&partner=homepage


The parent of Florida Power and Light agreed to acquire the Constellation Energy Group for about $11 billion yesterday, according to people involved in the talks.

The deal marks the first interstate merger among two power companies since Congress passed a bill this summer repealing a Depression-era law that limited such deals. Analysts expect a wave of similar mergers in 2006.

-snip-

The transaction extends a heady year for deals in the power industry, following Duke Energy's acquisition of the Cinergy Corporation for $9 billion; Berkshire Hathaway's purchase of PacificCorp for $5.1 billion; and NRG Energy's acquisition of Texas Genco last month for $5.8 billion. Energy companies have been using growing amounts of cash and higher share prices to seize on a pivotal moment for assets that just a year or two ago were considered too risky to touch.

-snip-

It is not clear how this deal and others will affect customers, but the rapidly rising cost of electricity particularly in some unregulated markets, has been a large factor motivating such transactions.
--------------------------------

and the bills go up and up and up

have monopoly laws disappeared?