Schumer seeks promises from NYSEG deal

WASHINGTON - Sen. Charles Schumer sought assurances Thursday that a Spanish firm's planned purchase of an upstate power company won't jack up bills for customers.

Iberdrola SA is trying to win state regulators' approval for a $4.6 billion acquisition of the regional utility Energy East Corp. The deal would affect 3 million customers from upstate New York to Maine and would put Rochester Electric and Gas Corp. and New York State Electric & Gas Corp. under foreign ownership.

Schumer said he was worried customers in New York might face higher bills and service problems akin to those that followed the 2002 acquisition of Syracuse-based Niagara Mohawk Corp. by the British firm National Grid.