LANSING, MI (WTAQ) – Utility regulators in Michigan have become the first to approve Wisconsin Energy’s acquisition of the Integrys Energy Group.
A settlement paved the way for Thursday’s approval. It involved the parent firm of We Energies, the Michigan governor’s office, and the operators of large iron ore mines in the Upper Peninsula.
Among other things, it called for no increase in retail customer electric rates as the result of contracts between the mines and We Energies. The mines and Michigan officials still object to payments connected with the We Energies coal plant in the U.P. over the last year.
That dispute is now pending in a federal court.
The proposed $9.1 billion mega-merger of Wisconsin Energy and Integrys still needs approval from state regulators in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Illinois. The approval from Michigan’s Public Service Commission means that Wisconsin Public Service electric customers in the Lower Peninsula will become a part of Wisconsin Energy — along with the Michigan Gas Utilities Corporation.
Meanwhile, the Michigan PSC also approved a 9 percent rate hike for Wisconsin Public Service customers in the U.P. in three phases through mid-2017.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
