The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have jointly called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to consider the competitive risks associated with common ownership. This call comes as part of their assessment of acquisitions that involve less than a controlling interest in competing firms. Currently, FERC is inviting public comments as it reviews its existing policy on investment company ownership of electric utilities.

According to a joint press release by FTC and DOJ, FERC's current policy allows for blanket authorizations for investment company ownership of public utilities under Section 203 of the Federal Power Act. This policy is premised on the assumption that certain transactions are in the public interest.

The press release further states that both FTC and DOJ view competition as a crucial aspect of FERC’s "public interest" standard in its Section 203 review. In their comment, these agencies elucidated several ways in which partial acquisitions can undermine competition. For instance, a partial owner may possess the ability to influence the competitive behavior of a target company. FTC and DOJ also stated that partial acquisitions could disincentivize competition, even without direct control or influence. They added that with partial acquisitions, competing firms might gain access to non-public, competitively sensitive information, leading to an anticompetitive information exchange.

In conclusion, both agencies praised FERC for initiating this inquiry and urged it to consider the competitive consequences of common ownership when deciding whether to revise its current blanket authorization policy.