Of the six cross-border utility deals by Canadian buyers since 2013 that we reviewed, five closed between 6 and 17 months after announcement, and the sixth, Hydro One's bid for Avista, was rejected by the Washington state regulator 16.6 months in. Where the record shows which approval came last, it was a state or district commission, not a federal agency. Emera ($EMA.TO, NYSE: EMA) expects its combination with Canadian Utilities ($CU.TO) and ATCO ($ACO-X.TO) to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2027, according to the October 6, 2026 announcement. That is roughly 9 to 15 months after announcement, inside the range of the past. This article sets out the record, with dates from company releases and filings, and what it suggests about the approvals listed in our Emera merger approvals guide.
The record: six deals, announced to decided
Months are calendar days divided by 30.44, rounded to one decimal.
| Deal | Announced | Closed or rejected | Months | Last or decisive regulator |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortis–UNS Energy (Arizona) | Dec 11, 2013 | Closed Aug 15, 2014 | 8.1 | Arizona Corporation Commission (order Aug 12, 2014; closed three days later) |
| Emera–TECO Energy (Florida, New Mexico) | Sep 4, 2015 | Closed Jul 1, 2016 | 9.9 | New Mexico Public Regulation Commission |
| Fortis–ITC Holdings (seven states) | Feb 9, 2016 | Closed Oct 14, 2016 | 8.1 | Kansas (after FERC on Sep 26, 2016) |
| AltaGas–WGL Holdings (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) | Jan 25, 2017 | Closed Jul 6, 2018 | 17.3 | D.C. Public Service Commission (order Jun 29, 2018) |
| Hydro One–Avista (Washington, Idaho and others) | Jul 19, 2017 | Rejected Dec 5, 2018; terminated Jan 23, 2019 | 16.6 (18.2 to termination) | Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (Idaho's commission also denied it) |
| Enbridge–three Dominion gas utilities | Sep 5, 2023 | Closed Mar 6, May 31 and Sep 30, 2024 | 6.0 / 8.8 / 12.8 | Separate state commissions for each utility |
Sources, deal by deal: the Fortis–UNS announcement and closing release; Emera's 2015 TECO release and the Bangor Daily News closing report, which called the New Mexico action "the final required regulatory approval"; Fortis's February 2016 and October 2016 material change reports and the FERC authorization release, which said closing "remains subject to receipt of regulatory authorizations from the state of Kansas"; AltaGas's announcement, its July 2, 2018 release on the D.C. order and its closing release; the Hydro One–Avista announcement, a repost of the Washington regulator's December 5 decision and the termination release; Enbridge's announcement and its October 2024 Form 8-K listing the three closing dates.
Lesson 1: the local regulator decides, and it usually goes last
Federal reviews such as FERC and Hart-Scott-Rodino appear throughout these deals, but where the sources show the order of approvals, the federal ones were not last. For ITC, FERC authorized the deal on September 26, 2016 and Kansas still had to act; the deal closed 18 days later. For TECO, Emera's 2015 release listed only three regulatory approvals by name (the New Mexico commission, FERC and Hart-Scott-Rodino), and New Mexico was the last. For WGL, AltaGas said the D.C. commission's written order of June 29, 2018 was the last of six key regulatory approvals, which also included Maryland and Virginia.
For Emera, the equivalent is the Alberta Utilities Commission, which regulates Canadian Utilities' Alberta businesses. The release also lists the Northwest Territories Public Utilities Board, the Competition Act, the Canada Transportation Act, FERC, the FCC, Hart-Scott-Rodino, CFIUS and reviews in Mexico and Australia. That is longer than any list in the table. The precedents suggest watching the Alberta filing first.
Lesson 2: ownership and governance can sink a deal
The one rejection in the table was about who would control the buyer, not about price or rates. The Province of Ontario owned 47% of Hydro One, and after the July 2018 departure of Hydro One's CEO and its entire board under pressure from the new provincial government, the Washington commission wrote that "Hydro One's directors cannot be considered independent," as Utility Dive reported. Hydro One had promised that Avista would keep its Spokane headquarters and its own board. That was not enough. Hydro One paid Avista a US$103 million termination fee.
The Emera deal has its own governance questions for regulators to examine. According to the release, Sentgraf, ATCO's sole voting shareholder, which also holds about 27% of ATCO's non-voting shares, has irrevocably agreed to vote for the deal; ATCO, which holds about 37% of Canadian Utilities' non-voting shares, has agreed to vote its shares in favour; and ATCO's Nancy Southern would become Co-Chair of the Emera board and Chair and CEO of New ATCO. None of this resembles a government owner, but regulators will ask who controls the combined company and its Alberta utilities.
Lesson 3: approval is bought with ratepayer commitments
Where the record shows conditions, they were paid to customers. Arizona customers of the UNS utilities received US$30 million in bill credits over five years, the utilities agreed not to recover transaction costs in rates, and they remained headquartered in Tucson under local control, with six longtime Arizona residents as independent directors forming a local majority on the board. In D.C., the settlement behind the WGL approval committed about US$41 million in direct benefits, including US$26 million of rate credits, and the commission added further conditions in its June 29 order. AltaGas announced on July 2 that all approvals were in hand, and the deal closed on July 6.
The Emera release commits to keeping Emera's public company headquarters in Halifax and Canadian Utilities' headquarters in Calgary and Edmonton. It does not mention rate credits. If the precedents hold, the Alberta process is where any ratepayer package will be negotiated, and its cost will appear only when a settlement or decision is filed.
Lesson 4: guided dates were mostly met, give or take a quarter
- UNS: guided "before the end of 2014"; closed August 15, 2014, early.
- TECO: guided "by mid-2016"; closed July 1, 2016, on time.
- ITC: guided "late 2016"; closed October 14, 2016, on time.
- WGL: guided "by the end of the second quarter of 2018"; closed July 6, 2018, six days late.
- Avista: guided "the second half of 2018"; rejected December 5, 2018.
- Enbridge: guided closings in 2024; all three closed in 2024.
The record is good, but small. And a deal that misses its guided date because of a rejection does not run late; it ends.
How the Emera timeline compares
From October 6, 2026, the start of the third quarter of 2027 is 8.8 months away and the end of the fourth quarter is 14.8 months away. The precedents ran 6.0 to 17.3 months. So the guidance is not out of line. But Emera's deal differs from most in the table in three ways: it is paid in shares rather than cash, it needs eight shareholder approvals across three companies, and it requires reviews in Canada, the US, Mexico and Australia. It also closes as one court-approved plan of arrangement, with no staged closing described, so Enbridge's approach of closing each utility as its regulator signed off does not apply. Our exchange-ratio worked examples show what the market is charging for that wait.
A common mistake: treating the federal approvals as the hard part
Headlines tend to focus on national-security and antitrust reviews. In this record, where the order of approvals is known, the final word came from the local commission, which answers to the customers who pay the rates, and the one rejection came from a state commission too. An investor tracking the Emera deal should watch the Alberta Utilities Commission docket more closely than any federal filing.
Checklist for following the Emera approvals
- The joint management information circular and the special meetings, expected in early 2027.
- The date the Alberta Utilities Commission application is filed, and any hearing schedule.
- Interventions or settlement talks that mention rate credits or governance conditions.
- FERC and CFIUS filings, usually routine but on the list.
- The Canadian Utilities spread, the market's daily read on all of the above.
More background is in our analysis of how the merger reshapes Canada's regulated utilities, the Markets section and the front page. This is not investment advice and not a forecast of the outcome.
FAQ
How long do utility mergers usually take to get approved?
In the six Canadian-buyer deals above, 6 to 17 months from announcement to closing. The one rejection came 16.6 months in.
Has a Canadian utility takeover in the US ever been rejected?
Yes. Washington's regulator rejected Hydro One's acquisition of Avista on December 5, 2018, over the Ontario government's influence on Hydro One. The deal was terminated on January 23, 2019.
Has Emera been through this before?
Yes. It announced the TECO Energy acquisition on September 4, 2015 and closed on July 1, 2016, after New Mexico's commission gave the last approval.
When is the Emera merger expected to close?
In the third or fourth quarter of 2027, according to the companies, subject to the shareholder, court and regulatory approvals.