Houston (Platts)--28Jan2013/524 pm EST/2224 GMT

The value of February financial transmission rights auctioned off by ISO New England fell more than 38% to around $794,000 from about $1.289 million in its auction of January rights, according to data from the grid operator.

The volume of rights, however, jumped month on month, increasing 2.5% to 42,398 MW from 41,382 MW in January, according to the data, released Friday.

Volume was up year on year, while value fell off. A year earlier, volume was about 38,322 MW, while the dollar value of the rights sold in the ISO's February auction came out to about $825,000.

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This February's FTRs were mostly positive, with volume split 35,494 MW positive and 8,105 MW negative.

FTRs are financial instruments that allow market participants to hedge against congestion on the grid. An FTR holder has the right to collect on or is obligated to pay for congestion associated with transmission between a source and sink point.

Castleton Commodities International, formerly Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy before being purchased by two investor groups, led the way in volume terms with 14,143 MW and a net dollar amount of $101,300.

NextEra Energy had the second-highest volume at 6,533 MW and a net dollar amount of $108,709.

Vitol had the third-highest volume at 5,453 MW and a net value of $56,589.

Rounding out the top five were Mercuria Energy America, 2,564 MW, and EDF Trading, 2,461 MW, with net dollar values of $19,774 and $50,994, respectively.

--Allan Schilling, allan_schilling@platts.com
--Edited by Katharine Fraser, katharine_fraser@platts.com

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