Foreign companies acquiring US utility systems: Overcoming PUHCA

Last year, foreign utilities invested $31.3 billion in the US, while American utilities announced $24 billion-worth of foreign utility investments. This foreign appetite for US utilities does not appear to be abating, but it could be restricted by the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA). Even the acquisition of 5 per cent of voting securities by a foreign utility could subject that utility to PUHCA regulation, which most foreign companies would find unacceptable. However, there are various mechanisms that enable PUHCA regulation to be avoided.