If EDF Group and Constellation Energy wanted to use Maryland regulators as an excuse to scrap their $4.5 billion deal, the regulators let them down.
The Public Service Commission's requirements for approving the deal are relatively minor. They amount to shuffling around money the companies already have or were planning to spend - plus new regulations Constellation has already agreed to in principle.
They come nowhere close to the "unreasonable conditions" the Baltimore-based energy company warned that regulators might impose.
The commission gave Gov. Martin O'Malley about half the money he wanted in credits for Baltimore Gas and Electric customers: about $100 per household. It agreed with him that Constellation needs to put hundreds of millions of dollars into strengthening BGE's financial position.
But it rejected O'Malley's attempt to cut Mayo Shattuck's paycheck, saying commissioners had no role in setting the Constellation CEO's compensation. That would have been a deal-breaker.
Constellation and EDF should be able to live with everything else - if they really want to consummate the affair, which would give EDF almost half-ownership in Constellation's nuclear power company. But do they?
French newspapers reported this week that EDF's soon-to-be new boss would like to get out of the Constellation agreement and invest the money in Europe. EDF is majority-owned by the French government.
"He would prefer to find an exit," reported Le Monde, relying on anonymous legislators who debriefed the new EDF chief executive, Henri Proglio, in a closed hearing.
For Constellation's part, analysts have suggested that the company might be better off keeping all of its nuclear business. If Washington starts tying a cost to carbon emissions either through taxes or a "cap-and-trade" scheme, well-run nuclear reactors should become even more valuable.
Constellation agreed to the French offer last year after it had narrowly averted bankruptcy and was hard up for cash. This year, however, it has cleaned up its house. Analysts believe it could survive if the EDF nuclear investment falls through.
True, Constellation shows every sign of wanting the deal. "Both teams are working hard to get this transaction closed," Shattuck said Friday.
