A deal that would create the largest civilian power reactor fleet in the country took another step forward Wednesday as the Justice Department approved the merger between Exelon and Constellation Energy.
The DOJ's antitrust division filed papers with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking approval for the merger, according to a Constellation release. The approval followed agreements to divest assets and take other steps to allay concerns about the merged company's power in electricity markets.
"With DOJ's action, we are pleased to have reached yet another important milestone in completing our merger with Constellation," Exelon President Christopher M. Crane said in the release. "We continue to expect that we will finalize the merger in early 2012."
The merger would bring together Constellation's five reactors in New York and Maryland and Exelon's 17-reactor fleet, which is already the largest in the country. The deal has received approval from several state and local regulators. Its next hurdles will be approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.