Maine regulators will not review a proposed stock buyout of Central Maine Power Company’s parent corporation by its majority shareholder.
Iberdrola, a multinational energy company based in Spain, wants to take full control of Avangrid with a $2.6 billion buyout of the remaining 18% of public shares in the company.
The Public Utilities Commission granted the companies' request for an exemption to state rules that require the commission to approve such a sale.
Commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of the exemption.
The Maine Office of the Public Advocate and Natural Resources Council of Maine have pushed the commission to review the sale. The groups argue that if Iberdrola makes Avangrid a private company, it will not have to file financial disclosures with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission, which could harm Maine consumers and delay the state's transition to renewable energy.
But the Public Utilities Commission said it approved Iberdrola’s full ownership of Avangrid in 2008. Commissioner Patrick Scully said rules enacted back then require the company to provide thorough records to Maine regulators and the public.
"I conclude that the plethora of information that is publicly available through these filings minimizes if not eliminates any risk that the transaction will result in decreased transparency to the public," Scully said.
The commission also determined the transaction would not change overall control of Avangrid, since Iberdrola controls the company board and management with a supermajority.
That undermines opponents’ concerns that minority shareholders would be sidelined by Iberdrola's purchase, according to Scully.
"I see this notion of minority imposed shareholder restraint as theoretical at best," Scully said.
Iberdrola owned CMP and Maine Natural Gas outright from 2008 until 2016, when the companies merged to form Avangrid.
