Oct. 31--Maryland regulators approved Constellation Energy Group's nuclear joint venture with a French utility Friday, adding conditions -- including a one-time $100 credit for each Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customer -- that fell short of concessions Gov. Martin O'Malley had sought for the deal.

Besides imposing the residential ratepayer credits totaling $110.5 million, the Public Service Commission placed terms on the transaction that would protect BGE from future financial troubles of its parent company. Among them: Constellation must make a $250 million cash infusion into BGE by June 30 to strengthen the utility and protect consumers.

"With the conditions we order below, the transaction is consistent with the public interest, convenience and necessity, with benefits and no harm to consumers, and the companies are cleared to proceed to closing," the PSC said in an extensive 54-page ruling on Constellation's deal to sell half its nuclear power business to Paris-based Electricite de France.

PSC approval was the last regulatory hurdle in the $4.5 billion deal struck in December; the companies have until Friday to tell the panel whether they plan to close the transaction. The companies, which had argued that imposing costly conditions could scuttle the deal, had little to say Friday except that they were reviewing the order.

Constellation Chairman and CEO Mayo A. Shattuck III said at a news conference about a new BGE energy conservation program that his company will review the order over the weekend and expects to meet the PSC's deadline. Earlier Friday, before the ruling's release, he said Constellation would be ready to close the deal in two weeks if the PSC's order were reasonable.

Constellation and EDF extended the deadline to close the deal from Oct. 30 to Nov. 16, according to regulatory documents filed late Friday.

Paul B. Fremont, an analyst with New York investment bank Jefferies & Co., predicted that Constellation would proceed with the deal after concluding the conditions are acceptable.

In a statement, O'Malley called the PSC's decision "fair and reasonable."

O'Malley, a Democrat, later said at a news conference that he's "not terribly worried" the conditions would cause the companies to walk away from the deal. Constellation anticipated many of the conditions "even as they battled this case through the process," he said.

He also commended the PSC for handling the case in a "fair, reasonable and expedited way" and said the commission's review has resulted in a "much better result for consumers than otherwise would have come about."

"It's always a victory when we're able to make our government work in such a way that consumers get a better and fairer shake," O'Malley said. "This could be a victory all around, and I hope that all the stakeholders see it as an opportunity to move forward."

If the deal closes, Constellation can move past financial troubles that pushed it to the edge of bankruptcy amid last fall's financial sector meltdown. Forced by a severe cash shortage to find a partner, Constellation initially agreed to a takeover by billionaire investor Warren Buffett but switched to the deal with EDF.