The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted approval to the proposed merger of Exelon and Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG).

The merged company, the largest utility in the US with assets of nearly $80 billion, 7 million electric customers and 2 million for natural gas, is to be known as Exelon Electric & Gas Corp.

The companies have committed to divest 4 GW of capacity and to sell energy from 2.6 GW of nuclear capacity. According to FERC, with this proposed mitigation, the merger will not harm competition.

The FERC approval is the first of a number of 11 regulatory reviews that must be cleared for the $15 billion merger to go ahead. Others include utility regulators in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, along with federal agencies such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Justice.