12. Discussion
Joint Applicants seek approval of the proposed transfer of control pursuant to Pub. Util. Code § 854(a) which, in relevant part, states:
No person or corporation . . . shall emerge, acquire, or control . . . any public utility organized and doing business in this state without first securing authorizing to do so from the commission . . . Any merger, acquisition, or control, without that prior authorization shall be void and of no effect.
The Commission has broad discretion to determine if it is in the public interest to authorize a transaction pursuant to § 854(a).6 The primary standard used by the Commission to determine if a transaction should be authorized under § 854(a) is whether the transaction will adversely affect the public interest.7
We conclude that it is reasonable to grant this § 854(a) application for the reasons that: (1) the proposed consolidation would confer significant operational efficiencies on the four ILECs, (2) the merger would benefit competition by opening up the three small LEC territories to wireline competition, and (3) there is no opposition to this application. For these reasons, we find no basis to withhold authority to consolidate and merge the three smaller ILECs into the largest of the four ILECs.
6 D.95-10-045, 1995 Cal. PUC LEXIS 901, pp. 18-19.
7 D.00-06-079, p. 13.
