On October 18, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved a final order exempting certain transactions of Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) from the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations. SPP is a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The final order exempts SPP transmission congestion rights, energy transactions and operating reserve transactions from specified provisions of the CEA and CFTC regulations. Significantly, the transactions will be exempt from private actions under CEA section 22. The final order also amends an existing order exempting certain transactions of six other RTOs and independent system operators by exempting those transactions from section 22 private actions.

SPP is still subject to the CFTC’s general anti-fraud and anti-manipulation authority and scienter-based prohibitions.

The final order is available here.