The number of shareholder-owned electric utilities has declined by 48 percent since 1995. Over the next decade, we expect to see two or three deals per year, on average. At this rate, the number of U.S. investor-owned electric utilities would be reduced to less than 40 by the year 2020. Although the pace of consolidation remains moderate relative to other industries, it is a significant disruption to the utility industry. Indeed, some utilities are likely to move forward into the M&A fast lane in the next three to five years, opening up the potential for the largest utilities to grow even bigger.
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