ITC Holdings Responds to Mississippi Public Service Commission Ruling

NOVI, Mich., Dec. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- ITC Holdings Corp.

issued the following statement in response to today's order by the Mississippi Public Service Commission denying ITC and Entergy Corporation's proposed transaction to spin off Entergy Mississippi's electric transmission business and merge it into a subsidiary of ITC. "We strongly disagree with the commission's decision and its stated rationale for denying our application.  ITC and Entergy have demonstrated that the transaction is in the public interest based on the significant benefits that would result from ITC's ownership of the transmission system, which is clearly in need of investment to improve reliability and facilitate the competitive electricity market.  While we recognize the commission's perspectives on jurisdiction and rate issues, ITC and Entergy made commitments to hold customers harmless from possible negative impacts and we do not believe that jurisdictional concerns should stand in the way of customers realizing the benefits of this transaction.  The commission's action today would deny Mississippi customers the near-term and longer-term economic and reliability benefits resulting from ITC's independent ownership with a singular focus on transmission. "We will review the commission's full order and determine next steps." ITC Forward-Looking InformationThis document and the exhibits hereto contain certain statements that