By: Power Engineering |
Entergy Texas Inc. has filed a request with the Public Utility Commission of Texas to spin off its electric transmission business and merge it into a subsidiary of ITC Holdings Corp (NYSE: ITC). The filing is the last in a series of local and federal regulatory applications seeking approval for the transfer of Entergy’s transmission business to ITC.
The transaction was initially announced in December 2011 by Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR) and ITC.
The transaction would transfer Entergy’s transmission business, including approximately 15,400 circuit miles of interconnected transmission lines of 69 kV and above and the associated substations, to ITC. The transaction would make ITC one of the largest electric transmission companies in the U.S. with more than 30,000 miles of transmission lines. Entergy’s operating companies would continue to own and operate their respective distribution and generation business and also provide customer service, billing, outage reporting and restoration services to homes and businesses in the region.
Entergy called the transaction a “significant step toward meeting the challenges facing the electric industry in Texas and across the country – challenges driven by the need to upgrade infrastructure, modernize equipment and meet growing environmental and compliance requirements.”
As part of the transaction, around 750 Entergy employees will become ITC employees. ITC will also establish a regional headquarters in Jackson, Miss., where Entergy’s transmission business’s headquarters is currently located.
The two companies are targeting to close the transaction this year if all required regulatory approvals are received and other closing conditions are satisfied.
