PSC moves to delay hearings by LARRY RULISON

ALBANY -- Attorneys at the state Public Service Commission were scrambling this week to postpone hearings over the $4.5 billion acquisition of Energy East Corp. by the Spanish utility Iberdrola SA.

Headquartered in Maine, Energy East has 3 million customers in New York and New England. Its Rochester-based utility, New York State Electric & Gas, has 45,000 customers in the Capital Region.

Iberdrola originally came to the PSC in August seeking approval of the deal. Hearings were scheduled to begin Feb. 25.

However, late last month, several news reports said that Iberdrola was the target of a hostile takeover bid by France's largest utility, Electricite de France, with possible help from a Spanish construction company called Actividades de Construccion y Servicios SA. Other reports said that Germany's largest utility, E.ON AG, was also interested in acquiring Iberdrola.

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