NextEra Energy, Inc. (NYSE: NEE) has announced its bid to
purchase the Energy Future Holdings Corp. (EFH) 80% interest in
Oncor Electric Delivery Company (Oncor). The transaction is valued
at $18.4 billion and comes in the form of a definitive agreement to
be filed as part of the restructuring of EFH pending before the
United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Readers of prior posts on this topic will recall that the last
purchaser of the Oncor assets was Hunt Consolidated which proposed
the use of a real estate investment trust (REIT) to finance its
acquisition of Oncor. While the Public Utility Commission of Texas
(PUCT) eventually approved the Hunt Consolidated acquisition, the
PUCT imposed conditions on the transaction which were intended to
give ratepayers the benefit of the REIT structure which avoided
certain taxes. Hunt Consolidated eventually withdrew its
application finding that the PUCT imposed conditions made the
transaction, as
