Southwest Gas Corp., Oneok Inc. and the Office of RatepayerAdvocates (ORA), the consumer advocacy arm of the California PublicUtilities Commission (CPUC), have submitted a joint recommendationto the CPUC that the proposed merger of Southwest and Oneok beapproved.

Regulators in Nevada and Arizona also have jurisdiction over themerger. The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) hasalready unanimously approved the merger. In Arizona, the utilitieshave agreed with the staffs of the Arizona Corporation Commission(ACC) and Residential Utility Consumer Office (RUCO) on terms andconditions governing the merger. The ACC is expected to act on themerger proposal in August, and the CPUC in September or October,Southwest Gas said.

The joint recommendation with the ORA requires merger savings beshared on a 50-50 basis between the company and its Californiacustomers and requires service standards be maintained at currentSouthwest Gas levels. If the joint recommendation is adopted by theCPUC, customers will receive $2 million in merger savings duringthe first five years following the closing.

If all regulatory approvals are obtained on approximately theexpected timetable, the company expects the merger will beconsummated about midway through the fourth quarter of 1999.

In other Southwest-Oneok merger news, a lawsuit filed bySouthern Union against Oneok and Southwest and certain officers ofthe companies was saidby Oneok CEO Larry Brummett to be withoutmerit. “This action appears to be nothing more than anotherdesperate attempt by Southern Union to slow the approval processand create confusion about the pending ONEOK-Southwest Gas merger.The accusations made against ONEOK in this lawsuit are false. Wehave done nothing illegal or improper in our efforts to moveforward with the approval process and we do not plan to be deterredby the efforts of Southern Union.”

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