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Maryland regulators plan to rule Friday on a bid by Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR) to buy nearly half of the nuclear power business of Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG).

The expected decision comes as Constellation Energy executives rejected reports the state-controlled power company is losing interest in the $4.5 billion deal amid a change of chief executives at EDF. Constellation Chairman and CEO Mayo Shattuck reiterated the Baltimore power company remains on track for the sale with a closing possible in two weeks. Shattuck made the comments during the company's regularly scheduled, third-quarter earnings call Friday.

A spokeswoman for the Maryland Public Service Commission said in an email a decision from the board is likely around noon EDT. Maryland represents the last regulatory hurdle for the deal, with the commission deciding in June to take a deeper look at the agreement.

Questions remain over whether EDF is still interested. A report in the Financial Times earlier Friday said EDF is facing pressure from the French government to abandon the deal, citing unidentified government officials. A senior French government official speaking under conditions of anonymity told Dow Jones Newswires Friday the French government has so far taken no position on whether state-controlled EDF should drop the deal, but EDF's designated chairman and CEO, Henri Proglio, told lawmakers this week that he had doubts about whether the deal is in the company's best interests.

Shattuck said he has no reason to believe EDF's opinion on the deal has changed. The two sides continue work toward a closing with the sale needing no further approval from the board of either company. He added Constellation has substantial break-up protections, and the companies will move forward if they win state approval as long as any conditions placed on the deal are fair and reasonable.

Constellation struck the deal with EDF in December in an effort to remain a publicly traded company. The company earlier had agreed to be bought by Warren Buffett's MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. as the possibility of filing for bankruptcy protection loomed last fall, but opted instead for the EDF partnership. The French company's interest has been driven in part by the opportunity to expand its large nuclear power business into the U.S.

In addition to the nuclear power business, Constellation owns a central Maryland utility and non-nuclear power plants in the eastern U.S.

-By Mark Peters, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2457; mark.peters@dowjones.com