Entergy Corp. and ITC Holdings Corp. (ITC) mutually agreed to end their pursuit of a spin/merger of Entergy’s transmission business with ITC.
The companies formally terminated the merger agreement December 13 and filed pleadings to withdraw the remaining transaction approval applications with Entergy’s retail regulators, as well as the Missouri Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
The companies originally announced the deal on December 5, 2011, and have spent the past two years working to obtain the necessary approvals to complete the transaction. The agreement called for Entergy to spin off its electric transmission business to a newly formed entity and merge it with a unit of ITC.
Entergy’s transmission business consists of about 15,400 miles of interconnected transmission lines at voltages of 69kV and above and associated substations across its Utility service territory in the Mid-South. The company’s preliminary 2014 — 2016 capital plan includes $1.7 billion for transmission investment.
Additionally, the company is on track to transfer functional control of its transmission systems to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) Inc., which Entergy estimates will save customers about $1.4 billion over the next decade.
