NAC704.79987. Application for authorization of proposed transaction: Inclusion of information on effect on competition.

An application for the authorization of a proposed transaction must include information relating to the effect of the proposed transaction on competition in the markets for energy services and products in which the resulting energy utility will do business, including, without limitation:

     1. An analysis of the competitive effect of the transaction on competition in the market for each energy service or product in which the resulting energy utility intends to do business. The analysis must include, without limitation:

     (a) An identification of the relevant products and services that are sold and will be sold by the parties to the proposed transaction before and after the completion of the proposed transaction, including, without limitation, an identification of:

          (1) Generation services sold at wholesale or retail, including, without limitation, capacity, energy services and coordination services;

          (2) Gas supply services, including, without limitation, services for:

               (I) Baseload/swing (load following) supplies;

               (II) Peaking supplies;

               (III) Back-up service; and

               (IV) Balancing of supplies when customers take delivery of gas from the distribution system or pipeline that is not equal to the amount of gas scheduled to be delivered to the customers;

          (3) Transmission services;

          (4) Pipeline transportation, including, without limitation:

               (I) Firm transportation;

               (II) Interruptible transportation; and

               (III) Storage;

          (5) Generation services necessary to support transmission service, including, without limitation, services for:

               (I) Regulation and frequency response pursuant to which adequate response capability is provided to balance the supply resources continually with the load and to maintain scheduled interconnection frequency within a control area over a single hour;

               (II) Energy imbalance to be provided when a difference occurs between the scheduled energy to be delivered and the amount of energy actually delivered to a load located within a control area over a single hour;

               (III) Loss compensation pursuant to which capacity and energy losses are compensated when power is delivered for transmission or to distribution customers, or both;

               (IV) Reactive power and voltage control pursuant to which reactive power from generation resources will be provided to support the reliable operation of the transmission system;

               (V) Operating reserve – spinning reserve, pursuant to which generation capacity will be synchronized to the transmission system; and

               (VI) Operating reserve – supplemental reserve, pursuant to which generation capacity will be provided that is not necessarily synchronized to the transmission system but is capable of serving demand within 10 minutes;

          (6) Retail electric services, including, without limitation:

               (I) Arranging for power supplies;

               (II) End-use metering, including, without limitation:

                   (i) Ownership of meters;

                   (ii) Operation and maintenance of meters; and

                   (iii) Reading of meters;

               (III) Financial arrangements for hedging prices;

               (IV) Public good services, including, without limitation, financial, technical and other services that are performed to further public policies related to the provision of electric service;

               (V) Services which are provided behind the meter that are provided to end-use customers relating to appliances that use natural gas, including, without limitation, sale, hook-up, repair and maintenance of those appliances;

               (VI) Customer accounting, including, without limitation:

                   (i) Account services;

                   (ii) Customer information and data processing;

                   (iii) Billing; and

                   (iv) Collection and processing of payments;

               (VII) Distribution services; and

               (VIII) Services related to the retail sale of gas;

     (b) An identification of the current geographic markets into which the products and services are currently being sold and the geographic markets that the parties to the proposed transaction have a reasonable expectation of obtaining after the completion of the proposed transaction;

     (c) An identification of the present and future customers of the parties to the proposed transaction that may be affected by the completion of the proposed transaction;

     (d) An identification of all potential future suppliers of the present and future customers which must be able to serve those customers in each market, considering the physical and economic restraints on the future suppliers in serving those customers, including, without limitation, the amount of capacity, energy or coordination services that each supplier of the services currently has available for delivery to the market after adjustment for transmission capability or any other constraint;

     (e) An analysis of the potential for entry by alternative suppliers into any market that will be served by the resulting energy utility and the role that entry into such a market by the alternative suppliers could play in mitigating any adverse competitive effects resulting from the completion of the proposed transaction, including, without limitation, a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the cost for the alternative sellers to enter the market; and

     (f) A calculation, using an appropriate methodology, of statistics relating to market concentration for each market to be served by the resulting energy utility, such as a calculation of statistics relating to market concentration using the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index.

     2. A description of any action that the parties to the proposed transaction intend to take to mitigate or remedy the effects of the market power that the resulting energy utility would possess upon the completion of the transaction. The description should identify each market in which the parties to the proposed transaction would take such action, the presumed quality and degree of mitigation or remediation, and any other alternative actions of mitigation or remediation that have been considered by the parties to the proposed transaction.

     3. Any additional information, data, analyses and studies that consider the effect of the proposed transaction on competition in the market for energy utilities.

     (Added to NAC by Pub. Utilities Comm’n by R128-98, eff. 12-3-99)