Dive Brief:

• Mississippi regulators rejected Entergy's plan to sell its transmission assets in the state to ITC Holdings, a sign that Entergy's $1.78 billion deal to sell its entire transmission network may be dead.
• The Mississippi Public Service Commission (PSC) unanimously ruled that the deal provided no benefit to ratepayers in the state and shifted PSC oversight authority to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
• The proposed sale of the transmission assets to ITC Holdings, which must also be approved by regulators in Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas, is related to a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into possible anti-competitive behavior by Entergy. The move to join the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) December 19 was also in response to the DOJ investigation.

Dive Insight:

In its order, the PSC said the proposed deal “must view the proposed transaction for what it is: an attempt by Entergy and its shareholders to monetize its transmission assets and extract the excess value of its assets under the more generous FERC rate construct available to ITC.”

The decision could doom the deal. Texas has already balked at the transaction and is now considering a revised proposal. Louisiana and Arkansas regulators haven't voted yet.