Thursday February 28, 12:02 PM
German EON to sell power grid: government spokesman
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FRANKFURT, Feb 28, 2008 (AFP) - German power giant EON (Xetra: 761440 - news) , the biggest European power company, is in talks to sell its high-voltage network to conform with a European Union (EU) request, a German government spokesman said Thursday.
The head of EON, Wulf Bernotat, informed German Chancellor Angela Merkel that he wanted to split off the distribution network, the spokesman said.
EON cited "economic reasons" to explain its decision, he added.
The company was not able to comment immediately on the news, however.
The European Commission has pressed repeatedly for major European energy groups to sell or rent networks that transport natural gas and electricity to stimulate competition and investment in the aim of reducing energy costs to European consumers.
But the talks could undermine Merkel, one of several European leaders to have expressed opposition to the commission's request.
Germany, France and six other EU members wrote to the executive body in late January to propose an alternative.
Meanwhile however, according to the business daily Handelsblatt, three other major German power companies, RWE (Xetra: 703712 - news) , EnBW and Vattenfall, were also in intensive talks on the sale of their distribution networks.
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