Expect Fewer and Larger Utilities

This column was originally published on RealMoney on July 26 at 2:15 p.m. EDT.

With a congressional conference committee completing its work on a broad-based energy bill including the repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act, or PUHCA, two utility insiders think we are close to a new era in electric utility consolidation.

"The industry will see the repeal as a much more favorable condition for mergers and acquisitions and consolidation of the electric utility business," Southern Company(SO Quote) Chairman and CEO David Ratcliffe told RealMoney in an exclusive interview Tuesday morning. "While we had become almost indifferent to PUHCA's repeal, it opens the door for new consolidation opportunities." ...