The CFTC has proposed regulating dozens of gas and electricity contracts, mostly traded on IntercontinentalExchange Inc. At issue is whether the CFTC plans to go further and move into a different type of contract known as a firm transmission right, which is used to manage congestion on the electric grid within the nation’s organized markets, or regional transmission organizations.

“Recently they’ve also started to look at things within the RTO markets, which would include FTRs, and I believe that’s completely outside of their purview,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff told reporters. “You can’t just look at a firm transmission right in isolation. They’re not traditional trading vehicles like soybeans or hog bellies. They are things that are integral parts of an entire electric market that FERC created so I think to the extent that CFTC believes that they have some oversight in that area I think it would be unwise for them to exercise that authority because I think it would ultimately be to the detriment of consumers.”