New York Mercantile Exchange To Launch Dow Jones Western Electricity Futures Contracts

The New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., and Dow Jones today announced that the Exchange will introduce trading in four western electricity futures contracts based on Dow Jones Electricity Indexes on its NYMEX ClearPort^sm electronic platform beginning with the June 4 trading session, which starts at 3:15 PM, June 3.

This is the first time that Dow Jones Electricity Indexes have been licensed for use by an exchange. The contracts will be based on the average peak day prices for the electricity market hubs at Palo Verde in Arizona, North Path 15 and South Path 15 in California, and the non–federal dams along the mid–Columbia River in Washington state. They will be available for competitive trading on NYMEX ClearPort^sm or for submission solely for clearing as off–exchange transactions. The contracts will initially be listed for July 2004 through December 2006.

Exchange President J. Robert Collins, Jr., said, "Being able to trade the western electricity contracts will complement our suite of traded eastern electricity futures for the PJM Interconnection and three New York Independent System Operator zones, and will offer market participants increased opportunities for risk management, both for outright transactions and in conjunction with the western natural gas basis futures contracts."

"Dow Jones is delighted that the New York Mercantile Exchange has chosen our Western indexes as the basis for settlement of its new contracts," said John Hitchcock, the Dow Jones managing director responsible for Dow Jones Newswires Indexes. "As a pioneer of electricity price indexing, we share the Exchange's confidence in the growth of the U.S. electricity markets."

Dow Jones Electricity Indexes is a group of broad–based pricing indexes used extensively by U.S. and European utilities, power marketers, independent power producers, consultants and municipalities for pricing short– and long–term contracts and hedging instruments. Dow Jones has contracts with more than 60 utilities, power marketers and power producers to contribute to Dow Jones all pertinent transactions for the day, every day, making Dow Jones Electricity Indexes the most consistent, dependable barometers available.

The New York Mercantile Exchange also offers trading in financially settled PJM electricity monthly futures and options contracts; PJM weekly and daily futures contracts; and New York Independent System Operator Zone A, G, and J electricity futures contracts, as well as clearing services for physically delivered PJM, Palo Verde, and mid–Columbia River electricity futures contracts.