Daily Record

Constellation Energy Group Inc. went through the ringer last year, but instead of blaming it all on the poor economy, Chief Executive Mayo A. Shattuck III said he took responsibility for the company’s plight.

“Over the past year, it was nearly impossible to be a business leader anywhere in America without feeling humbled,” he said Wednesday during an earnings conference call with analysts.

“And I feel that sense of humility very much myself,” Shattuck said. “As CEO, I take full responsibility for what has occurred at Constellation and for the steps we have taken.”

Shattuck’s mea culpa referred to the merger agreement Constellation terminated in December, which cost the company handsomely in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Constellation lost $1.4 billion for the quarter, or $7.75 per share, as it exited a deal with MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., compared to a net gain of $258.1 million, or $1.42 per share, in the fourth quarter of 2007, the company said Wednesday.

It cost Constellation $1.17 billion, or $6.43 a share, to break its agreement and move on to make a deal with Electricite de France for half of its nuclear assets.