ITC and Entergy File for Transaction Approval with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

ITC Holdings ITC and Entergy Corporation ETR filed a joint application today with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking approval for Entergy's utility operating companies to spin off and merge their electric transmission businesses into a subsidiary of ITC. Upon closing of the transaction, ITC will become one of the largest electric transmission companies in the U.S., with more than 30,000 miles of transmission lines spanning 11 states from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast. The transaction provides the opportunity for a leading independent transmission company to continue to expand the grid serving a large area of the mid-South and to deliver growing benefits to customers and communities. The FERC application seeks approval for Entergy to transfer more than 15,800 miles of interconnected transmission lines at voltages of 69kV and above and the associated substations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Texas to ITC. These assets then will be placed under the functional control of the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator or MISO, a party to today's filing. Meanwhile, Entergy's operating companies will continue to own and operate their respective distribution and generation businesses and will provide customer service, billing, outage reporting and restoration services to homes and businesses in the region. "The spin/merge transaction is designed to create benefits for our customers, our communities and our region," said Theo Bunting, Entergy's group president of utility operations. "With an independent transmission company owning the transmission business, we'll see greater capacity for investment, singular focus and excellence in operations."