FTSE Mondo Visione Exchanges Index:
NYMEX Board Approves Applying to Trade Mid-Columbia Electricity Contract
Date 13/07/1999
The New York Mercantile Exchange board of directors on Wednesday agreed to apply to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for permission to trade electricity futures based on delivery in the Mid-Columbia River region.
In addition to delivery terms, the contract will differ from the Exchange's other electricity contracts in unit size, which will be 432 megawatt hours (Mwh) of firm electricity, delivered at a rate of one megawatt per hour. Like the Exchange's other electricity contracts, which have contract unit sizes of 864 (beginning with the October 1999 contract) for the western electricity futures contracts and 736 for the eastern electricity contracts, the total Mwh actually delivered will vary according the number of on-peak days during the delivery month.
Exchange President R. Patrick Thompson said, "We are delighted that we will soon be able to add a tool based on this active market center to our electricity risk management and price discovery product mix. We are confident it will complement our existing western and eastern electricity contracts and that the industry in this region will be well served with the experience our traders have gained in trading those markets as well as our other energy products."
Other terms and conditions will parallel those in the Exchange's existing electricity contracts, including:
Delivery Period: 16 on-peak hours: hour ending 0700 (6 AM) Pacific time to hour ending 2200 (10 PM) Pacific time on each business day of the delivery month
Termination of Trading: Trading in the delivery month shall cease on the fourth business day prior to the first day of the delivery month.
Prices and Fluctuations: Prices shall be quoted in dollars and cents per Mwh. The minimum price fluctuation will be $.01 per Mwh. The maximum daily price fluctuation will be $10.00 per Mwh above or below the preceding day's settlement price (the basic maximum fluctuation). Expanded limits will apply in increments of $20, and then $30, when the contract trades at the maximum limit.
