Dive Brief:
- Entergy canceled its plan to sell its transmission assets to ITC Holdings after the Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC) rejected the $1.8 billion deal. “It is clear we don't have the necessary regulatory support to close the transaction," said Leo Denault, Entergy's chairman and CEO.
- Under the deal, Entergy planned to sell its 15,000 mile transmission network serving parts of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy proposed the deal to try to resolve a U.S. Justice Department concerns about possible anti-competitive behavior by the utility company.
Dive Insight:
The Mississippi PSC decision highlights the ambivalence state regulators feel towards relinquishing their oversight authority for transmission to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The PSC decision "highlights the tension that exists between federal regulation over interstate transmission and state regulation as it relates to the rates customers pay within the bounds of individual states," Cameron Bready, ITC's chief financial officer, told Reuters.
