On July 7, 2015, the CFTC requested public comment on a rule amendment certification filing by Intercontinental Exchange US (ICE). Specifically, the CFTC is requesting comment on ICE's proposed change to how it estimates deliverable supply of New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) Zone G contracts, which would raise position limits for these contacts. Commodity position limits are calculated as a percentage of total deliverable supply.

The CFTC is seeking to stay ICE's request to increase position limits on these contracts. Previously, in May 2015, the CFTC issued a stay notification letter to ICE, based on the fact that the rule amendment contains an inadequate explanation of the subject rule amendment and is potentially inconsistent with the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA).

Under the amendments, ICE would adopt a new estimation for deliverable supply on which position limits for eight of its New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) Zone G electric power futures contracts would be based. The NYISO Zone G is one of the eleven control zones for the region and is based on the Hudson Valley load zone, situated to the north of New York City. The ICE NYISO Zone G futures contracts are major US futures markets and principal vehicles for hedging and pricing by US firms with commercial interests in electric power for the region. The effect of these changes would be to increase the position limits for these contracts under CFTC rules.

The request for comment emphasizes that it is essential that the estimated delivery supply of futures contracts effectively link futures trading to the underlying cash markets.

Public comment must be submitted on or before August 6, 2015.

Update: On August 5, 2015, the CFTC extended the public comment period to September 21, 2015.

For more information on commodity position limits, see Practice Note, The Dodd-Frank Act: Commodity Position Limits.