PSC Awaiting Formal Request On Utility Sale

by Gabe BullardA spokesperson for E-On US says the impending sale of LG&E and Kentucky Utilities to Pennsylvania-based PPL will have little to no effect on customers. But the agency that regulates utilities says its too early to tell.The tentative terms of the sale dictate that Pennsylvania-based PPL will keep the utilities' headquarters in Kentucky. An E-On spokesperson says with the headquarters and management remaining intact, rates and customer service are unlikely to change.But Public Service Commission spokesperson Andrew Melnykovych says it's not yet clear how the sale will affect customers."We don't know the details of the transaction and regardless of what those details might be, they could well be modified as the result of conditions the PSC would place on the applicants," he says.Melnykovych says the PSC will rule on the sale in the four months after a formal request is filed with the PSC. PPL announced yesterday that it plans to purchase LG&E and KU for $7.6 billion. The sale will not have any bearing on LG&E's recent request for a rate increase.