Public Utility Commission of Ohio Supports
Dominion Resources/CNG Merger
RICHMOND, Va., and PITTSBURGH -- The Public Utility Commission
of Ohio has filed a statement with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) supporting the merger of Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE:D) and Consolidated
Natural Gas Company (NYSE:CNG), the two companies announced today.
The Ohio commission told the SEC that the agency would continue
to exercise jurisdiction over the regulated activities of The East Ohio Gas
Company, CNG’s natural gas distribution company in Ohio, and that the merger
would have no impact on its ability to protect the interests of Ohio ratepayers.
The Ohio commission is not required to approve the merger but conducted a structural
review at the request of East Ohio Gas.
Thos. E. Capps, chairman, president and chief executive officer
of Dominion Resources, and George A. Davidson Jr., chairman and chief executive
officer of CNG, said in a joint statement:
"We believe our merger will provide substantial benefits
to the state of Ohio. This is a merger about growth, and Ohio will play an important
role in our expansion plans. We thank the Ohio commission for its timely review
and support of our merger plan."
The merger has been approved by public utility commissions
in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, as well as shareholders of both companies.
Still pending are decisions by Virginia and North Carolina public utility commissions
and several federal agencies.
"We continue to work toward being in a position to close
the merger by the end of the year," Capps and Davidson said.
CNG has more than 2,200 employees and approximately 1.2 million
natural gas customers in Ohio. The merged company plans to participate in unregulated
markets for both natural gas and electricity in Ohio. Dominion Resources and
CNG have also announced plans to build two $200 million gas-fired electric power
generation facilities in Ohio to supply electricity during periods of peak need.
The Dominion Resources/CNG merger will create the nation’s
largest fully-integrated energy company. The merged company will serve about
4 million electric and natural gas customers in five states. It will have about
20,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity and will operate North America’s
largest natural gas storage system. The merged company also will be one of the
largest independent oil and natural gas exploration and production companies
in North America, with more than 3 trillion cubic feet equivalent of reserves
in the United States and Canada.Dominion Resources expects SEC approval of its
plan to have CNG remain a wholly-owned subsidiary.
