PUC Decides Harbinger Must File
Posted on June 14, 2006 by oregoncub
Tags, Utility Regulation
The PUC voted yesterday (Oregonian 06/14/06) to order Harbinger Capital Master Fund to file an application acknowledging that they’ve acquired the ability to “exercise influence” on an Oregon utility, in this case Portland General Electric. Sometimes called the merger statute, this Oregon law says that any individual or company owning more than 5% of an investor-owned utility in Oregon must file an application with the Public Utility Commission, so that the Commission can approve the purchase, merger, or ability to exercise influence.
The Commission can then deny the application, in which case Harbinger would have to sell a portion of their stock in PGE. The Commission can approve the application, or the commission can approve the ownership with conditions. (For example, the MidAmerican ownership case resulted in approval with some stringent conditions negotiated by CUB regarding information sharing, financial ring-fencing, renewables purchases, etc.)
CUB filed a Complaint last Thursday asking the PUC to open an investigation on Harbinger’s ownership of 7.4% of PGE stock and the resulting need for Harbinger to undergo this process. Harbinger’s local attorney has argued that his client does not intend to influence PGE’s operations, and is therefore exempt from the ownership application requirement. CUB believes that the law is based on ability to exercise influence, not intent to exercise influence. We argued that Harbinger’s intent is moot under the law; they have the ability to exercise influence and they need to file. Based upon the recommendation of the PUC Staff and on intervenor comments, like CUB’s Complaint, the Commission opened and closed a short investigation in the matter, concluding that Harbinger is indeed required to file an ownership application.
An important part of an investigation of the “exercising influence” statute is the ability to conduct discovery, which allows us to find out what Harbinger’s analysis is of their PGE stock purchase, their plans for the stock, etc. Opening this case will allow the PUC to use said discovery process to judge the new utility ownership’s effect on customers, and to place conditions on the purchase if they consider it in the best interest of customers.
This is important partially because Harbinger has shown itself to be very willing to exercise influence with another utility it owns a percentage of: NorthWestern Corp. of Montana. Harbinger, which owns 20% of NorthWestern, has tried to force a sale of the utility company against the wishes of the utility’s Board of Directors. We neither believe nor disbelieve Harbinger’s attorney when he assures us that Harbinger has no such desire to exercise influence in the case of PGE. We simply want to see the memos, the spreadsheets, and the financial analysis showing their plans and expectations for PGE.
We appreciate our members’ willingness to support the work that keeps these issues front and center, when significant numbers of participants would like to keep utility ownership deals under the radar. The electrical power and gas service into our homes and small businesses are crucial to daily functioning, and much too important to be given over to for-profit corporations without any oversight. We rely on you to keep us diligently at work, keeping our utilities in good hands.
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03/10/17 | 0 Comments | PUC Decides Harbinger Must File