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Exelon is not seeking new merger targets in the near term after its failed bid to acquire NRG Energy, Exelon Chairman and CEO John Rowe said on a July 24 conference call to discuss Exelon's second-quarter earnings. Market power issues would rule out any deal with another independent power producer while regulatory issues would likely hamper any merger with most acceptable utilities, he said. Rowe also said Exelon will not be building any new nuclear power plants, believing that uprating the power capacity of its current 17-unit nuclear fleet is a better value. The company last month postponed indefinitely its plans to build two new nuclear units at a greenfield site in Victoria County, Texas and announced plans for up to 1,500 MW of nuclear upgrades over the next eight years. Uprates for current nuclear units cost about half as much as building a new plant and the execution risk is "substantially lower," Rowe said. Exelon on July 24 announced second-quarter income of $657 million, down from $748 million in second-quarter 2008.

MidAmerican and Constellation filed a request with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, October 14 seeking approval of their planned merger, continuing their string of applications for federal approvals needed to complete the union. They asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to act on the application by January 15. Under the merger agreement announced last month, MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. will buy Constellation Energy for about $4.7 billion in cash. The boards of directors for both companies have approved the deal, but shareholder and state and federal approvals are still needed. Earlier this month, the companies filed applications with the NRC and Federal Communications Commission. They hope to close on the transaction in nine to 12 months.

Exelon Corporation and NRG Energy, Inc.; South Texas Project, Units 1 and 2; Notice of Consideration of Approval of Application Regarding Proposed Merger of NRG Energy, Inc. and Exelon Corporation, and Indirect Transfers of NRG South Texas LP's Facility Operating Licenses, and Opportunity for a Hearing The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission, NRC) is considering the issuance of an order under Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Section 50.80 approving the indirect transfer of control of the Facility Operating Licenses, which are numbered NPF-76 and NPF-80, for the South Texas Project (STP), Units 1 and 2, respectively, to the extent held by NRG South Texas LP (NRG South Texas).

A Calvert County official urged Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) on Friday to continue his support of Constellation Energy Group's merger with a French energy giant and its plans to build a third nuclear reactor at the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby. Board of County Commissioners President Wilson H. Parran (D-Huntingtown) told O'Malley that Maryland is facing an energy shortage and that the third reactor would be a source of much-needed power. Constellation officials have said the reactor would nearly double the plant's capacity. Parran said the project would bring hundreds of jobs to the county, plus tax revenue.

US-based Constellation Energy Group accepted a 4.5-billion-dollar (3.15-billion-euro) offer from France's EDF for a 49.99 percent stake in its nuclear power business, the companies said Wednesday. Constellation backed out a deal with renowned US investment manager Warren Buffett, whose energy group MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company had offered 4.7 billion dollars for the whole company. A statement from the French firm said the deal would "enhance Constellation Energy's long-term stability and liquidity position" and extend "the EDF Group's nuclear expertise in the United States." Constellation, a top US electricity supplier, said it would pay some 1.2 billion dollars to break off the merger with Mid-American in a combination of cash, bonds and shares to be declared in the fourth quarter of 2008.

By gaining control of slightly less than half of the outstanding stock in NRG Energy Inc., Exelon Corp. wants to turn a hostile $6 billion takeover effort into a friendly one. The NRG board rejected a proposed merger with the Chicago-based Exelon in November, only to find dissent from shareholders who agreed Tuesday to tender 45.6 percent of their stock to Exelon.

NRG Energy, Inc. rejected Sunday a $6.1 billion takeover bid by Exelon Corp., openly challenging whether the Chicago-based parent company of Commonwealth Edison could successfully manage what would have been the country's largest power generation company. Exelon made an unsolicited all-stock offer last month that valued NRG at a 37 percent premium, a figure that dipped to 9.4 percent by the close of the stock market Friday. The offer proved underwhelming to the board of directors at NRG, which unanimously turned down a merger it said "significantly undervalues" the Princeton, NJ-based company.

A common perception of nuclear power is that it's an affordable, carbon-free energy source that could meet a lot of America's demand for electricity, if only those darn environmentalists would get out of the way. Unfortunately for nuclear power advocates and Maryland ratepayers, this statement crumbles upon contact with reality. The average cost of electricity for all of Maryland's sectors is 13.45 cents per kilowatt-hour. There's a growing possibility some of us will have the pleasure of paying double that thanks to the pending merger between Constellation Energy and French electric giant EDF Energy, which is supposed to pave the way for construction of a new nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs. Doubling rates is fairly easy to predict with a trip down memory lane.

A common perception of nuclear power is that it's an affordable, carbon-free energy source that could meet a lot of America's demand for electricity, if only those darn environmentalists would get out of the way. Unfortunately for nuclear power advocates and Maryland ratepayers, this statement crumbles upon contact with reality. The average cost of electricity for all of Maryland's sectors is 13.45 cents per kilowatt-hour. There's a growing possibility some of us will have the pleasure of paying double that thanks to the pending merger between Constellation Energy and French electric giant EDF Energy, which is supposed to pave the way for construction of a new nuclear power plant at Calvert Cliffs. Doubling rates is fairly easy to predict with a trip down memory lane.

"Russian state-controlled miner ARMZ wants to become one of the world's top 3 uranium producers after buying a controlling stake in Canada's Uranium One , General Director Vadim Zhivov said. "We view Uranium One as a company to ensure global growth for ARMZ and therefore as a platform for mergers and acquisitions," he told reporters on Wednesday. ARMZ added it had no plans to further increase its stake in Uranium One after closing the transaction, which will see the Russian firm own at least a 51 percent share."

"Exelon will get incentives from the American Power Act and the bill will increase the company's earnings in five years, if it passes. John Rowe, chief executive officer of nuclear firm Exelon, saw the writing on the wall about government penalties and rewards for producers of greenhouse gases. Rowe considers himself the "senior chief executive in the utility industry" having served in those positions since 1984. He presided over Exelon's formation from the merger of Chicago utility Unicom and Philadelphia utility Peco. During his time at Unicom predecessor Commonwealth Edison, Rowe changed the course of the company's future to focus on nuclear power instead of dirtier coal and oil-fired plants."

NRG Energy and Reliant Energy remain mum about a report this week that NRG may buy Reliant's retail electric business, but that hasn't stopped analysts from discussing the pros, cons and possible motives for such a move. According to SparkSpread.com, an online energy industry news site, senior NRG executives expressed interest in buying the Reliant business during an investor dinner at a financial conference in Phoenix last week. The report cited unidentified "market watchers."

Centrica, Britain's biggest gas and electricity supplier, is to sound out institutional shareholders about reviving plans for a £22.5bn all-share merger with British Energy, The Sunday Telegraph has learned. Centrica, which owns British Gas, will gauge the appetite of City investors for a paper deal following the last-minute hitch in British Energy's takeover by EDF, the French government-controlled energy group, last week.

A federal lawsuit filed against Exelon Corp. shouldn't affect plans to build a nuclear plant in Victoria County, Exelon officials said. NRG Energy Corp. filed its lawsuit Tuesday in the Southern District of New York, asking the court to correct Exelon's false and misleading claims, an NRG news release stated. NRG said that Exelon's exchange offer serves as a tool to pressure the NRG board of directors into accepting Exelon's inadequate offer to take over the company. The news release calls the offer a ruse because such an offer would cost billions more than Exelon's current merger bid because it would require additional refinancing for NRG debt.

"The Obama administration's decision to cancel plans for a massive nuclear waste facility at Nevada's Yucca Mountain may have complicated hopes for a nuclear energy renaissance in the United States. But a handful of Am Law 100 firms with strong nuclear regulatory practices are betting that the search for clean energy sources and the debate over climate change will lead more countries to embrace the nuclear option. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius sought to give its leading nuclear regulatory practice a boost last week with the addition in London of Susan Quint, a former general counsel and group legal director for British Nuclear Fuels Limited. Legal Week reports that the move by Morgan Lewis follows a shift by the firm to refocus its practice strengths abroad, especially in the energy sector. London-based EDF Energy recently selected the Morgan Lewis to help it build 20 new nuclear reactors in the U.K., The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. (EDF is a subsidiary of Paris-based Électricité de France, the world's largest utility company following its $23 billion merger with British Energy in September 2008.) And Morgan Lewis isn't the only firm looking to other shores for nuclear business."

Deal That Could Pave the Way for Four New Nuclear Reactors In the U.S. Is Taxpayer Boondoggle Coalition Statement on Reactors Planned for Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Missouri A transaction announced Wednesday through which Electricite de France (EDF) - the world's largest nuclear developer - will buy half of Baltimore-based Constellation Energy should not come to fruition. Not only does it increase the foothold of a French state-controlled utility in the largest energy market, but it makes it more likely that billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars will be sunk into an economically unviable industry. Baltimore-based Constellation Energy said that it would approve a deal with the world's largest nuclear developer, French-controlled EDF. Under the proposal, EDF would pay $4.5 billion to buy half of Constellation's aging nuclear assets, which consist of two reactors at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland, two reactors at Nine Mile Point in New York and the Ginna reactor, also in New York. In addition, EDF would buy up to $2 billion of non-nuclear Constellation power plants.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund said on Wednesday it has filed a suit in a U.S. court to prevent Constellation Energy (CEG.N) from convening a shareholders meeting due to vote on a takeover by MidAmerican. Norway's fund owns 4.8 percent in Constellation, whose value it said was undervalued by the offer by MidAmerican Energy, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N). Since MidAmerican's move was proposed and backed by Constellation's board, French power company Electricite de France (EDF.PA) made an offer for Constellation assets "that values it substantially higher" than MidAmerican's offer, the Norwegian oil fund said.

The sale of Erwin-based Nuclear Fuel Services, Inc., to NOG-Erwin Holdings, Inc. (NOG), a newly-formed subsidiary of the Lynchburg, Va.-based Babcock & Wilcox Company, was finalized the last day of 2008. Jud Simmons, public affairs manager for the Babcock & Wilcox Company, confirmed during a Friday telephone interview that the transaction was finalized Dec. 31, although he said a formal announcement of the deal was not expected to be made until Monday. License Transfer Approved

The Wall Street Journal reports that Exelon Corp. (NYSE:EXC) will extend its offer for NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE:NRG) by seven weeks to Feb 25 as a result of having acquired 45.6% or 106.5 million shares since November. NRG's stock closed at $28.62 on Jan 10 making Exelon's stake worth $3.05 billion. The Chicago nuclear giant is planning several new steps to secure control of the New Jersey-based utility. The New York Times reported that Exelon was also considering a proxy fight to force NRG to sell the rest of the company. Exelon reportedly said it would propose its own slate of directors for NRG's board.

Individual payments of up to £1m have been handed out from the public purse as a "golden goodbye" to directors at the loss-making nuclear holding group BNFL, according to the latest set of accounts. David Bonser, executive director for human resources and a key figure in the development of BNFL's troubled Thorp reprocessing plant, received £1,046,350 compensation for ending his employment last month. That was on top of an annual salary and bonuses worth £577,112 for the 12 months to March 31, 2008. Two other directors left with well over £1m in combined salaries, bonuses and golden goodbyes as the company that once presided over a sprawling empire of nuclear assets was wound down.

Constellation Energy said Monday its board of directors had authorized the company's management team to begin immediate discussions and exchange of information with Electricite de France over the French company's unsolicited proposal for a stake in its nuclear assets. Constellation, a Baltimore-based utility holding company, said it received EDF's proposal December 2. That offer, if accepted and completed, would see the state-owned French company acquire -- through a joint venture -- a 50% ownership interest in Constellation's nuclear business for $4.5 billion.