State regulators have approved the sale of Puget Energy and its wholly owned utility subsidiary, Puget Sound Energy (PSE), to New York-based Puget Holdings LLC. Valued at an estimated $7.4 billion, the sale is subject to 78 commitments and conditions to protect customers.
Puget Holdings will buy all of the outstanding common stock of Puget Energy for $30 per share, and Puget Energy common stock will no longer be publicly traded. PSE owns the 229 MW Wild Horse Wind Facility and the 150 MW Hopkins Ridge Wind Facility.
‘The commission will continue to regulate PSE's natural gas and electric rates, services, facilities and practices just as it does today,’ Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission Chairman Mark Sidran and Commissioner Patrick Oshie wrote in their majority opinion. ‘The commission will continue to exercise all its power of oversight and authority to protect consumers and the company in order to ensure that PSE continues to provide safe, reliable service at reasonable rates and of the quality the public expects.’
Commissioner Philip Jones opposed approval of the sale and filed a dissent opinion, saying that the transaction creates an incremental debt load that will lead to ‘large and frequent rate increases.’
Puget Holdings is a Delaware limited liability company, with its principal offices in New York, privately held by a group of investment companies and fund managers with infrastructure investments primarily in the U.S., Australia and Canada.
SOURCE: Puget Energy
