In late April, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved tariff revisions ISO New England Inc. and for the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO)  that are expected to improve the scheduling of wholesale electricity sales between the two regions and reduce costs for consumers in New England and New York.

FERC’s approval of Coordinated Transaction Scheduling (CTS) will enable ISO New England and the NYISO to make more efficient use of the transmission lines that connect the two regions. According to the system operators previous rules governing wholesale energy transactions between New York and New England created market inefficiencies. The new revisions are logical overdue improvements which will  improve the ability of market participants to access the lowest-cost source of power within the two regions.

Enhancements include increasing the frequency of scheduling energy transactions over the transmission network between regions, implementing software changes to enable the two system operators to coordinate selection of the most economic transactions, and eliminating several fees that impede efficient trade between regions.

These changes have the potential to save millions of dollars annually, allowing the system operators to displace higher-cost generation with lower-cost generation, wherever the lower-cost supply is located, the ISOs say. A study of external transactions from 2008 to 2010 showed that CTS could result in annual savings in the range of $60 million in New England and $66 million in New York.