Launch of Two (2) New NYISO Zone F Electricity Swap Futures Contracts on CME ClearPort® and NYMEX trading floor

Beginning on Sunday, November 8, 2009 for trade date Monday, November 9, 2009, the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (“NYMEX”) will launch two (2) new NYISO Zone F, peak and off-peak, electricity swap futures contracts for trading on the NYMEX trading floor and for submission for clearing through CME ClearPort. The contracts are listed with NYMEX, and subject to, the rules and regulations of NYMEX and CME.

These new futures contracts will be cash-settled. The first listed month for these contracts will be the December 2009 contract month.  Monthly contracts will list current year plus the next five calendar years, consecutively.  A new calendar year will be added following the termination of trading in the December contract of the current year.

NYMEX will allow Exchange of Futures for Physical (“EFP”) and Exchange of Futures for Risk (“EFR”), collectively referred to as Exchange For Related Position (“EFRP”) transactions to be submitted through CME ClearPort.  EFRP transactions in these futures contracts will be governed by the provisions of Exchange Rule 538. 

The product specifications for NYISO Zone F peak and off-peak contracts are as follows:

Title and Commodity Code

Peak Days and Hours

Peak day shall mean a Monday through Friday, excluding North American Electric Reliability Corporation holidays from Hour Ending (HE) 0800 Eastern Prevailing Time (EPT) through HE 2300 EPT.

Off-Peak Days and Hours

Off-Peak shall mean Monday through Friday Hour Ending (HE) 0100-0700 and 2400 Eastern Prevailing Time (EPT) and Saturday through Sunday HE 0100-2400 EPT including North American Electric Reliability Corporation holidays.

Contract Quantity

Peak Contract Unit: 80 Megawatt hours (MWh) (5 MW per peak hour). The monthly transaction size is restricted to whole number multiples of the number of peak days in the contract month.

Off-Peak Contract Unit: 5 MWh (5 MW per off-peak hour). The monthly transaction size is restricted to the whole number multiples of the number of off-peak hours in the contract month.