Commitments by the buyers of TXU Corp. to operate in a more environmentally conscious way and to cut retail prices didn't silence the utility's critics Monday.

Observers say regulators and lawmakers were already poised to force TXU to do just about everything the buyers agreed to do voluntarily. Skeptical lawmakers said Monday that they aren't ready to step back from legislation aimed at cutting the utility's market share to push power prices lower.

"TXU's board and management were in the process of reshaping our development program to focus on a smaller number of plants when we were approached by the new private investor group," company chief executive John Wilder said Monday.

And TXU's official announcement of an offer by Texas Pacific Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group to buy the Dallas power company for $45 billion didn't end speculation about how the investors could make money after committing to build three coal-fired plants rather than 11, and to cut retail prices 10 percent.

The investors recognized that "if they invested in TXU overall, then they would have the ongoing conduit to put investment capital to work on projects," Mr. Wilder said.

The TXU board agreed late Sunday to sell the company for $69.25 a share, plus debt. As part of the deal, executives will spend the next couple of months looking for better offers.

The buyers plan to separate TXU into three distinct companies: a generation company called Luminant Energy; a transmission and distribution company called Oncor Electric Delivery; and a retail electricity company called TXU Energy. Each company will have its own board and management.

The buyers also would cut retail prices by 10 percent and hold the new prices steady until 2008.

Most customers would get a 6 percent reduction in about 30 days and a 4 percent reduction when the deal closes during the second half of the year.

Buyers said they intend to market across the state to reverse TXU's declining count of 2.4 million retail customers.

But officials with Texas Pacific Group and KKR wouldn't say how exactly they intend to improve the value of the company in the long term.

"We think when we step back and look at a vibrant company in Texas, we'll have an even better company five or 10 years from now, and that's how we make money," said Marc Lipschultz, a partner with KKR. He added the commitments could be costly in the short term.

Analysts said the buyers aren't likely to forgo profits because demand for power in Texas continues to grow.

Still, the deal didn't dissuade key lawmakers from their plans to force TXU to break apart and to push electricity prices down. Both of those ideas are part of the TXU buyers' commitments.

"The devil's in the details," said Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, who filed several of those bills. "We'll have to look at this sale and we'll have to say, does that accomplish some of the things we were trying to accomplish or not? ... I think our legislation may still occur."

He added that TXU should cut prices 20 percent, rather than just 10 percent, but he's pleased to see the company build fewer coal plants.

And Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, who also filed electricity legislation, said he worries that the public won't get much information about TXU once it is a private company. TXU wouldn't have to publish financial information or quarterly results.

"Over the last 12 months, all my work has been towards looking at concerns about the competitive market," Mr. Fraser said. "This sale of TXU to a private equity firm actually heightens those concerns."

Gov. Rick Perry, who publicly supported TXU's plans to build 11 coal plants, praised the buyout offer and environmental deal. His order to fast-track new power plant permits was shot down last week when a state district judge said it was probably unconstitutional.

"There's pretty substantial environmental hurrah coming out of this. I think there's some good economics here," Mr. Perry said Monday.

"It's not a change of heart. We had long discussions about capacity, and they assured us the capacity is going to be there."

As recently as last week, TXU said the state could face widespread blackouts if the company isn't allowed to build the 11 coal plants.

The company pointed to reports by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

But ERCOT technically predicts that if more plants aren't built, Texas' power supply could become uncomfortably tight in 2009 in the few days each year when Texans use the most power.

Plus, since TXU announced its building plan, rival power companies have proposed their own coal, nuclear, natural gas and wind plants.

The buyout deal also includes a unique pact between the buyers and two national environmental groups, Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council, to scale back TXU's plans to build 11 coal-fired power plants to three plants; to keep TXU's promise to cut emissions 20 percent from current levels; to cut carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by 2020; and to invest in renewable power and energy efficiency programs.

Yet, environmental advocates say, it was unlikely that TXU was going to get permission to build all 11 plants. And with the prospect of carbon dioxide regulation by Congress, the company may have to address greenhouse gas emissions, like it or not.

TXU's Mr. Wilder said managers were already considering ways to cut the number of plants the company would build because of delayed permits and increased costs.

He pointed out that working out how to transport Wyoming coal to Texas was getting complicated, labor costs have risen and community opposition was an issue.

The buyers "bring a reach in political and community influencing that certainly I don't have, nor do I think broadly our management or our company has at TXU," Mr. Wilder said.

The buyers said they named former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker to the board of the new company, as well as former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans and William Reilly, a former Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

"It wasn't that big of a sacrifice after all," said Trammell S. Crow, one of the founders of Texas Business for Clean Air, an exclusive circle of influential Texas business leaders who oppose coal plant pollution.

"I think that it was heading this way anyway," said David Litman, another founder of the business group and of Hotels.com.

But David Hawkins, director of NRDC's climate center, who negotiated the environmental pact with the buyers, said he chose a sure bet rather than the uncertainty that regulators and lawmakers would have limited TXU's environmental impact.

"We can put these commitments in the bank," he said.

TXU said the deal requires approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Securities Exchange Commission. TXU officials said they don't need the Texas Public Utility Commission to sign off on the deal, though they will communicate with the commissioners.

PUC officials begged to differ. Spokesman Terry Hadley said the law requires TXU to report the deal "within a reasonable time" and requires commissioners to review the buyout to ensure that it is in the public interest.

Staff writers Christy Hoppe in Austin and Todd J. Gillman in Washington contributed to this report.

What will happen to my electricity bill?

What about pollution?

TXU has argued that Texas needs all 11 plants to avoid widespread blackouts. Is the power supply now in jeopardy?

If they reduce rates and cut production plans, how will the buyers make money?

The buyers have avoided discussing specifics but say they are in for the long term.

When will the sale be final and will consumers see other changes?

The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year. It's too early to say what other changes might occur.