NEMA Applauds FERC Order To Regionalize National Electric Grid

WASHINGTON -- - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) this week ordered that the US electricity grid be coordinated into four large Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs).

"These FERC decisions are a milestone event that will reshape US energy markets for years to come," says Craig Goodman, President of the National Energy Marketers Association (NEM).

"FERC has taken bold and decisive steps to bring liquidity and stability to the US electricity markets. The FERC decisions will force many stakeholders to work together to ensure that transmission assets within each region will be used efficiently. Consumers in congested areas like California could see some relief while new electricity supplies are being built because within a larger region, there could be more resources to share or deploy for the benefit of local shortages," says Goodman.

"The next step is to ensure that utility power and competitive power can reach consumers under the same terms and conditions. Currently, utilities can claim a priority on the use of transmission lines blocking competitive supplies from reaching consumers. As FERC mandated for natural gas, interstate transmission lines must be open and all supplies must be able to use these lines to serve consumers," says Mr. Goodman.

The National Energy Marketers Association (NEM) is a national, non-profit trade association representing both wholesale and retail marketers of energy and energy-related services and technologies throughout the United States.

NEM's membership includes: small regional marketers, large traditional international wholesale and retail energy suppliers (as well as wind and solar power), billing and metering firms, Internet energy providers, energy-related software developers, risk managers, energy brokerage firms, information technology providers and manufacturers and suppliers of advanced distributed generation.