The New York Independent System Operator and ISO New England said Tuesday they will begin standardizing trading rules in the two territories to make it easier to buy wholesale electricity across current boundaries.

They also agreed to study the feasibility of creating a single entity to administer a wholesale electricity market that would serve 33 million people in seven states.

"A common wholesale electricity market here in the Northeast is a logical step for both New York and New England," said Gordon van Welie, president and chief executive officer of the Holyoke, Mass.-based ISO New England.

Not so, argued state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

"I'm very deeply troubled that ISO New England has taken this step without even a shred of evidence that it will be to our benefit [in New England]," Blumenthal said.

In fact, a study done by the electric market operator for the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland region showed that marriage with New York would raise prices in that region and New England, Blumenthal said.

Supporters said consolidating the operations that serve retail electricity providers would lower prices, eliminate transmission bottlenecks and reduce power shortages.

Steve Sullivan, a spokesman for the Guilderland, N.Y.-based New York ISO, said standardizing the markets in the two regions will facilitate trades and make it easier to merge operations in the future.

ISO New England manages a grid capable of generating 28,000 megawatts of electricity over 8,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.

New York's grid is slightly larger, with a capacity of 35,000 megawatts and 10,700 miles of high-voltage transmission lines.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.