Business news in brief

Gamesa, the Spanish wind turbine manufacturer with U.S. headquarters in Trevose, Bucks County, said Wednesday that it has been awarded a contract to supply 37 of its G114-2.1 megawatt turbines for a wind farm project in New York state. The turbines will be delivered next year. The company did not disclose the price, the location of the installation, or the manufacturing location of the turbines. Gamesa operated a factory in Bucks County from 2006 until it wound down operations last year. When contacted, a Gamesa spokesman declined to disclose further details. Gamesa previously supplied turbines for Iberdrola Renewables' Hardscrabble Wind Project in Herkimer County, N.Y. That project was the target of lawsuits by nearby landowners who complained the turbine noise reduced their property value. - Andrew Maykuth

Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh joined an effort in court Wednesday to require the Maryland Public Service Commission to reconsider its approval of Exelon Corp.'s merger with Pepco Holdings. Frosh filed a friend of the court brief with the Office of People's Counsel, Maryland's consumer advocate, which filed a petition in Circuit Court for Queen Anne's County asking for judicial review after the PSC approved the $6.9 billion merger in May in a 3-2 vote. Advocacy groups such as Public Citizen petitioned the court, as well. Chicago-based Exelon is the parent of Philadelphia's Peco Energy and Baltimore Gas and Electric. Frosh and other critics had been vocal about their opposition to the merger, which they claimed would harm utility customers by creating a near-monopoly and lead to rate hikes. The merger was approved in several states until it was rejected by Washington, D.C. regulators in August. Frosh's filing argued that the merger would harm efforts to expand renewable energy. - Baltimore Sun

Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor known for picking fights with corporate boards, disclosed an investment in American International Group Inc. and said it should split into three companies, one offering property-casualty insurance coverage, another selling life insurance and a third backing mortgages. "There is no more need for procrastination," Icahn said in a letter posted on his website Wednesday and addressed to AIG CEO Peter Hancock. Icahn said on Twitter that he holds a "large stake" in AIG. Icahn, 79, said a tax-free separation into independent, public companies would help AIG limit regulation. The insurer has "taken important and significant steps to reposition AIG by both simplifying and de-risking the company," Hancock said in a statement. "We remain on course and are determined to continue and accelerate these efforts." - Bloomberg News

Ford Motor Co., flush with record profits, is dialing up the discounts in an extensive incentive program that will cut prices on almost all its models in a year-end push to drive up sales and market share. The Friend & Neighbors promotion will offer as much as $2,000 on top of incentives Ford already has and will run from Nov. 3 to Jan. 4, according to a dealer planning guide obtained by Bloomberg. The discounts will apply to all new 2014, 2015 and 2016 Fords, except for some high-end Mustang models, the F-150 Raptor and some commercial-grade vehicles such as the F-550 truck and E-450 van, the guide said. - Bloomberg News

Verizon Communications Inc. is seeking to grab a bigger share of sales from linking such devices as smoke detectors, home thermostats and factory pumps to the Internet. Starting in the first quarter of 2016, the company will offer options that use less overhead so devices can connect to the Web for less. The idea is to make cellular Internet access - currently used with only 20 to 25 percent of Web-connected devices in the U.S. - more mainstream so gadget makers can bake lifetime cellular access into the cost of more devices, Mike Lanman, a senior vice president at Verizon, said. A Web-connected pump can tell its operator that it's due for maintenance, averting costly repairs. An Internet-connected thermostat can let its owner change temperature in the home remotely. - Bloomberg News

Retailer Chico's FAS Inc. named Wal-Mart Stores Inc. veteran Shelley Broader as its next chief executive officer after discussions with potential buyers this year failed to produce a deal. Broader will take the job on Dec. 1 and also join Chico's board, the Fort Myers, Fla.-based company. David Dyer, the current CEO, will become the board's vice chairman. Broader, who also worked for Michael's Stores Inc. and Delhaize Group, inherits a company that has seen sales and profit growth sputter in recent years. - Bloomberg News