13th Annual Energy Roundtable

The AAI marks its 13th Annual Energy Roundtable1 by gathering experts in antitrust and regulation from government, industry, academia, and advocacy to discuss major competition policy issues involving electricity and energy. This year’s roundtable will examine major recent developments in transmission and how they will likely affect wholesale market competition and benefits to consumers. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 1000, the advent of merchant transmission, and independent transmission ownership are likely to have consequences for transmission access, planning, reliability, and wholesale market competition. Another nascent trend – consolidation among transmission owners – highlights changes in the organization of this key segment of the electric power industry. Transmission mergers also pose questions about competitive effects and analysis, the extent to which consolidation poses challenges to existing access and Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) policies, and potential merger-related efficiencies.

The day will open with a discussion of transmission planning, access involving merchant transmission, and the coexistence of the vertically-integrated and independent transmission ownership models. We will address how these developments potentially affect competition in wholesale markets, RTO policies, and FERC’s long-standing commitments to non-discriminatory grid access and regional planning. The afternoon session will examine antitrust issues relating to transmission, including transmission market power and how competition enforcers might analyze transmission mergers. Issues include evidence on the effects of comparable mergers, potential competitive effects, and efficiencies. We will also address how the scope and intensity of potential concerns over transmission market power will be shaped by the regulatory overlay of RTOs and the functional control their exercise over transmission.

The AAI thanks the sponsors of this event:

• American Public Power Association
• National Rural Electric Cooperative Association