Latest news with #marketpower
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
FERC approves $16.4B Constellation-Calpine deal
This story was originally published on Utility Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Utility Dive newsletter. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wednesday approved Constellation Energy's proposal to buy Calpine from Energy Capital Partners in a deal valued at $16.4 billion, subject to conditions aimed at reducing the expanded company's ability to exert market power. With a proposed mitigation plan in place — which includes Constellation selling five power plants in the PJM Interconnection — 'the proposed transaction will not have an adverse effect on competition,' FERC said. An agreement between Constellation and Monitoring Analytics, PJM's market monitor, imposes offer caps in the PJM capacity market on all of the independent power producer's power plants selling into the PJM market through the 2035-36 delivery year, FERC said. Although Constellation agreed not to enter into colocation data center deals until mid-2026 or until FERC issues an order clarifying PJM's rules on the issue, Jefferies equity analysts said Thursday that the company will be free to enter into above-market data center transactions under the approved conditions. In its decision, FERC dismissed arguments from Public Citizen, PennFuture and the Clean Air Council that Constellation could withdraw its nuclear capacity from the market to sell power directly to data centers, saying there was no evidence that would happen. As part of the plan, Constellation will sell four power plants in the PJM Interconnection totaling 3,546 MW. They are the: 1,134-MW gas-fired combined cycle Bethlehem Energy Center; the 569-MW dual-fuel combined cycle York Energy Center Unit 1; the 1,136-MW dual-fuel combined cycle Hay Road Energy Center; and the 707-MW, gas-fired simple cycle Edge Moor Energy Center. In its agreement with PJM's market monitor, Constellation agreed not to sell any of the power plants to Dominion Energy and American Electric Power, which own the most capacity in PJM. FERC rejected concerns raised by the Monitoring Analytics that PJM's capacity market is structurally uncompetitive and that consolidation of power plant owners makes market power problems worse. PJM has rules to mitigate the ability of power plant owners to drive up capacity prices using their market power, FERC said. The U.S. Department of Justice must approve the transaction before it can close, which Constellation expects will happen in the fourth quarter. Under the deal, Constellation will own almost 60 GW of nuclear, natural gas, geothermal, hydro, wind, solar, cogeneration and battery storage. Calpine currently owns 27 GW. Recommended Reading Ratepayer advocates urge FERC to reject proposed Constellation-Calpine deal Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
01-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
SAP Wins Early Round in US Legal Fight With Celonis
SAP SE won an early round in a lawsuit filed in the US by one of Europe's most valuable startups accusing the German technology giant of illegally wielding its market power. A federal judge in San Francisco on Monday dismissed antitrust claims by Celonis SE that SAP blocked access to data in its systems to give an unfair advantage to its own Signavio unit. The judge said Celonis can try to revise and refile the claims.
Bloomberg
12-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Note to Feds: Don't Destroy Google
For most of human history, an enchanted box that contained all knowledge and answered all questions would've been the stuff of allegory. For modern internet users, Google is one more thing to take for granted. Just consider how aggressively the Department of Justice has been trying to break up the company. A federal judge ruled last year that Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., had unlawfully wielded its market power when signing agreements with distributors such as Apple Inc. and Mozilla Corp. to use its search engine as a default in their operating systems or browsers. The decision was rather puzzling, as those contracts were nonexclusive, competitively negotiated and enabled users to switch search engines with trivial ease. But even if one agreed with the ruling, it left a crucial question: What should be done?
ABC News
12-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Bunnings accused of abusing market power
Sabra Lane: Bunnings is Australia's most trusted brand and it's being accused of abusing its market power. A Four Corners investigation into the hardware giant has heard fresh allegations of supplier mistreatment while a price survey has questioned just how cheap Bunnings is. Business reporter Emilia Terzon with this story. David Woodman: How are you today ma'am? Customer: I'm well, how are you today? David Woodman: I am very well thank you. What can I do to help you? Emilia Terzon : David Woodman's family has owned hardware stores for generations. This one on the outskirts of Brisbane is under threat. Katherine Mingin: Bunnings have bought the property next door and have advertised or put in the newspapers that they're going to build a 15,000 plus square metre box next door to us. Emilia Terzon : Bunnings says that its store will enhance competition in the Jimboomba region, but David Woodman thinks it will decimate his profits. Katherine Mingin: Being a small family business we can't sustain that so we'd probably end up shutting the store. Emilia Terzon : While Bunnings can legally set up next door to his Mitre 10, a Four Corners investigation has found that Bunnings is using clauses in its leases to block rivals setting up near its stores. Suppliers have also come forward with fresh allegations of being treated badly by the hardware giant. For eight years George Mingin and his wife Katherine supplied live worms to Bunnings, only to be dumped when they asked for a price increase. Katherine Mingin: We ended up putting a lot of hard work for absolutely no gain whatsoever. In fact we've lost everything that we put back into the business simply to supply Bunnings. Emilia Terzon : Professor Clinton Free from the University of Sydney questions whether Bunnings has simply become too big. Clinton Free : It's an enormous success financially but it also starts to raise big questions about market power. Emilia Terzon : Market research firm IbisWorld estimates that Bunnings' parent company Wesfarmers controls a third of the retail hardware market while one rival says the figure is double this. Bunnings disputes both estimates. Clinton Free : Bunnings has managed itself very skilfully through flying under the radar a little bit, having a very trusted brand. That has meant that it's not been subject to scrutiny in the same way that for example Coles and Woolworths have. Emilia Terzon : The competition watchdog has also had its eye on dodgy discounts. Four Corners has found there is a large caveat around Bunnings' famed price match guarantee. Bunnings advertisement: Citeco ladder, $159. Where you find a competitor's lower price on the same stocked item, we'll beat it by 10%. Emilia Terzon : But good luck finding that Citeco ladder anywhere else because it's a home brand. Bunnings now sells around 9,000 home brand products. Matt Steen from Consumer Advocacy Group Choice says that even some of the barbecues are Bunnings' home brand but as a shopper, you'd never know it. Matt Steen : There's nowhere on the packaging or on the products themselves that actually says it's a Bunnings only product. I think Bunnings should basically make it more transparent about how people can actually get that 10% guarantee, realistically get it, which is not including their home brand products. And so incorporation of some kind of labelling into their packaging and products would be really useful. Emilia Terzon : In a statement, the ACCC told Four Corners that home brands could be misleading or deceptive if they are marketed as though they are produced by a third party. Bunnings says it complies with all legal and regulatory requirements that apply to labelling and it applies its famed price match guarantee on like-for-like items. The company declined an interview with Four Corners. In a statement, it said it has a genuine commitment to value, service and fairness. Sabra Lane: Emilia Terzon reporting there and you can see the full Four Corners episode, 8.30pm tonight on ABC TV or anytime on ABC's iView.
