12/19/07 N.Y. St. Reg. PSC-51-07-00007-P
PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed action:
The commission is considering whether to approve or reject, in whole or in part, the amended joint petition of United Water Inc. (UW), United Water Resources Inc. (UWR), United Waterworks Inc. (UWW), United Water New York Inc. (UWNY), United Water New Rochelle Inc. (UWNR), United Water South County Inc. (UWSC), United Water Owego Inc. (UWO), United Water Nichols Inc. (UWN), and United Water Westchester Inc. (UWWI) (the companies) for a declaratory ruling disclaiming jurisdiction or, in the alternative, for approval of the merger of GAZ de France SA (GdF) and Suez SA (Suez), and the simultaneous initial public offering of shares of Suez Environment (SE).
Statutory authority:
Public Service Law, section 89-h
Subject:
Merger by GAZ de France SA (GdF) and Suez SA (Suez).
Purpose:
To issue a declaratory ruling disclaiming jurisdiction or to approve a transaction by which Suez would be merged into GdF, along with the simultaneous initial public offering of shares of SE. As a result there would be a transfer of an indirect controlling interest in UW, UWR, UWW, UWNY, UWNR, UWO, UWN, UWSC, and UWWI.
Substance of proposed rule:
GAZ de France and Suez SA are petitioning to merge as GDF Suez. Currently Suez SA is the parent of Suez Environment, which is a parent company of United Water Inc. (UW), United Water Resources Inc. (UWR), United Waterworks Inc. (UWW), United Water New York Inc. (UWNY), United Water New Rochelle Inc. (UWNR), United Water South County Inc. (UWSC), United Water Owego Inc. (UWO), United Water Nichols Inc. (UWN), and United Water Westchester Inc. (UWWI), (the companies) which are New York State regulated water companies. If approved, Suez Environment ownership will consist of publicly traded shares, GDF Suez, and a variety of major shareholders. The Commission may adopt, reject, or modify in any way the Companies' proposal.
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained by filing a Document Request Form (F-96) located on our website http://www.dps.state.ny.us/f96dir.htm. For questions, contact:
Central Operations, Public Service Commission, Bldg. 3, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223-1350, (518) 474-2500
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
Jaclyn A. Brilling, Secretary, Public Service Commission, Bldg. 3, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12223-1350, (518) 474-6530
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Regulatory Impact Statement, Regulatory Flexibility Analysis, Rural Area Flexibility Analysis and Job Impact Statement
Statements and analyses are not submitted with this notice because the proposed rule is within the definition contained in section 102(2)(a)(ii) of the State Administrative Procedure Act.
