The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have jointly submitted a public comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) emphasizing the importance of considering competition concerns in common ownership situations. According to the agencies, "competition is a core component of FERC’s 'public interest' analysis." They further explained that "partial acquisitions, including acquisitions involving common ownership in which individual investors hold non-controlling interests in firms that have a competitive relationship that could be affected by those joint holdings, can lessen competition in three ways."

FERC is currently reviewing its policy on financial investment company ownership of electric utilities, specifically regarding its blanket authorizations for investment company ownership of public utilities under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act. While FERC assumes that certain transactions are in the public interest and grants blanket authorizations, the Justice Department and FTC are urging FERC to consider the competitive risks associated with common ownership.

In response to FERC's inquiry, the agencies commended the commission for undertaking the review and encouraged FERC to carefully evaluate the competitive consequences of common ownership before making any revisions to its current blanket authorization policy.