Judge Shortens Calif. PUC Review of Charter/TWC/BHN
A California administrative law judge shortened the California Public Utilities Commission’s time frame on its review of Charter Communications' $89.1 billion takeovers of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, in an order released Thursday. ALJ Karl Bemesderfer set a final decision date for May 12, earlier than the previously scheduled June 10, which means a proposed decision could come by April 12, the order said. Charter originally had hoped to close the deals in the first part of 2016 but recently submitted a motion for an expedited calendar that would see CPUC deciding by April 21 (see 1602040027).
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The decision was reached because Charter and interested parties in California decided that evidentiary hearings wouldn't be required, Bemesderfer said. Applicants are also withdrawing their pending motions to strike, he said, and no party will object to the admission of any testimony; objections to relevance, if any, would be outlined in briefs. Counsel’s letter indicated the parties made these agreements to shorten by one month the timetable established in the scoping memo, the ALJ wrote. The new timeline has concurrent opening briefs due March 1 and concurrent reply briefs due March 11.
Charter still hopes for federal approval of the deals by the end of March. Aside from federal regulatory approval, the deals still need state approval from regulators in Hawaii and New Jersey (see 1511270047). "We appreciate the ruling which should allow us to close the pending transaction more quickly and bring its many benefits such as superior HD video and fast unlimited broadband with no modem lease fee to more consumers," a Charter spokesman emailed us Friday.
Some had said California would likely succumb to outside pressures from other states and federal review processes (see 1601130060). Ana Maria Johnson, CPUC Office of Ratepayer Advocates' project supervisor, said that isn’t how the commission and its staff see the change. The schedule already was tight, but now that the parties agreed to not have evidentiary hearings, the ALJ was able to tighten things up further, she said. “We see it more as a schedule compact; rather than a rush to a proposed decision,” Johnson said. “Our focus at the moment is on legal briefs which will summarize the impact of the transaction on California consumers.”