CT power provider’s rival ups bid to $8B

Exelon Corp. today sweetened its hostile takeover bid for rival power generator NRG Energy Inc., which has generating plants in Connecticut, by 12 percent to $8 billion in stock.

Exelon cited newly identified cost savings along with NRG's recent deal for Reliant Energy's Texas retail business.

Exelon Chairman and CEO John Rowe said that the new proposal is Exelon's "best and final offer." The former offer has a current value of about $7 billion.

"Together the two company's shareholders get something very rare, a truly effective combination in an industry in which significant profitable growth is very hard to come by," Rowe said in a morning conference call.

NRG rejected Exelon's previous offer, saying it undervalued the company.

If NRG combines with Chicago-based Exelon, the new company would be the largest U.S. power generator, providing energy to about 45 million homes. Exelon is the nation's largest nuclear power company.

Exelon has nearly $19 billion in annual revenue and 5.4 million electric customers in northern Illinois and Pennsylvania. It also has 480,000 natural gas customers in the Philadelphia area.

Its 10 nuclear stations, with 17 reactors, represent approximately 20 percent of the U.S. nuclear industry's power capacity, and about 3 percent of all U.S. power generation.

NRG's power plants has 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity, enough to supply more than 20 million homes. Its retail business, Reliant Energy, serves more than 1.7 million residential, business, commercial and industrial customers in Texas. (AP)