The company should be helped by improving results from its unregulated businesses.

"You could sell off some of the unregulated businesses, like cellular phones, and make a fortune."

The acquisition is aimed at giving Williams more of a stake in unregulated businesses where the growth and returns are higher.

"There is really no justification for trying to regulate an unregulated business," he said.

The company won permission to set up subsidiaries that could go into unregulated businesses - including, perhaps, power generation outside its distribution area.

Be cautious, though; fraud has been a problem in this unregulated business.

Enron appeared to become a wildly successful company by creating a new, largely unregulated financial business, that of energy trading.

In November 2005, the company announced it would sell its unregulated competitive businesses, including generation and energy services.

Because of a provision in the commodities laws, it is an unregulated business.