The statewide load cap is the maximum number of tranches of BGS-RSCP and/or BGS-CIEP Load that any one bidder can bid in the Auction(s) and serve statewide. The statewide load cap for the 2026 BGS-RSCP auction is 20 tranches, and the statewide load cap for the 2026 BGS-CIEP auction is 17 tranches.

All Pre-Auction security documents are required to be transmitted only via electronic means to the Auction Manager at BGS-Auction@nera.com.  Hardcopy Pre-Auction security documents will not be accepted.

A bidder cannot bid more in the first round of the Auction than its indicative offer at the maximum starting price (the number of tranches for which the bidder has submitted Pre-Auction Security as required by the Part 2 Application). While a bidder cannot bid more in the first round of the Auction than its indicative offer at the maximum starting price, a bidder can bid less than that amount, including submitting a bid for zero tranches.

No, cash is not acceptable as pre-auction security. Each Qualified Bidder in an auction must submit a Pre-Auction Letter of Credit (or Bid Bond) for that auction (either the BGS-CIEP Auction or the BGS-RSCP auction) with its Part 2 Application.

The expiry date must be at least sixty (60) calendar days from date of issuance of the BGS Pre-Auction Letter of Credit. The date of issuance is expected to be no earlier than the Notification of Qualification date, namely on or after December 19, 2025.

A new BGS Supplier Master Agreement is used every year between a supplier and an EDC for which the supplier has won tranches at the auction, regardless of whether the supplier is a current or past BGS supplier for that EDC. After the 2026 BGS Auctions, if the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approves the results of the auctions, all suppliers with winning tranches for an EDC will be required to execute the final 2026 BGS Supplier Master Agreement with that EDC.

It depends on the certification. Some certifications of the Part 2 Applications are required for a Qualified Bidder to become a Registered Bidder. For example, a Qualified Bidder must certify that, other than agreements disclosed in the Part 1 Application, the Qualified Bidder has not entered into any agreement with any other Qualified Bidder regarding participation in the auction for which it is applying. If a Qualified Bidder is unable to make this certification, the Qualified Bidder will not be able to participate in the Auction.

Other certifications of the Part 2 Application allow the Qualified Bidder to make an information disclosure to explain why it is unable to make a certain certification. For example, a Qualified Bidder that is unable to certify that it is not associated with any other Qualified Bidder will be asked to identify the Qualified Bidder(s) with which it is associated, and will be asked to describe the nature of the association. If a Qualified Bidder makes such a disclosure because it cannot make one of the certifications in the Part 2 Application, this disclosure will be considered when the Part 2 Application is processed. The Auction Manager may require additional information and will decide on a course of action on a case-by-case basis to preserve the competitiveness and integrity of the Auction. This course of action could include allowing the Qualified Bidder to complete the Part 2 Application successfully without additional undertakings, could include requiring additional undertakings as a condition for the successful completion of the Part 2 Application and for participation in the Auction, or could include rejection of the Part 2 Application.

There is no requirement for the bank issuing the Pre-Auction Letter of Credit to be the same as the bank that issues any letter of reference. Both the Pre-Auction Letter of Credit and the Sample Letters of Reference, however, require that the issuing bank have an unsecured debt rating of “A” from Standard & Poor’s or “A2” from Moody’s. Furthermore, the Pre-Auction Letter of Credit must be issued by a United States commercial bank or a foreign commercial bank with U.S. branches that are subject to the jurisdiction of New York federal or state courts.

Assignment is possible under Section 15.3 of the BGS Supplier Master Agreements.  Thus, if an entity participates at the auction and wins, that entity could assign its tranches to another entity at a later time, subject to the conditions of Section 15.3. Regulatory approval from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is not required for such an assignment.

Two affiliated entities may each be considering bidding in the auction and may separately submit a separate Part 1 Application, unaware that the other is also submitting a Part 1 Application. Your question, however, implies that both Entity A and Entity B are aware that the other is submitting a Part 1 Application. Thus, if the two affiliated entities know that the other is preparing a Part 1 Application for the auction so that these entities will have communicated their potential intention to bid to each other, these entities are considered to be bidding as part of a bidding agreement, joint venture for the purpose of bidding in the auction, bidding consortium, or other arrangement (“Arrangement”) pertaining to bidding in the auction. These entities should follow the procedures for entities that have entered into an Arrangement, as described in ACI-47 or ACI-48 found in the Association and Confidential Information Rules Q&A.

Any Arrangement pertaining to bidding in an auction must be disclosed in the Part 1 Application using the Insert prepared for this purpose. If the parties to this Arrangement qualify, the parties do so as a single “Joint Bidder”. The Joint Bidder receives a single notification of qualification naming the entities that are parties to the Arrangement. The list of Qualified Bidders included with the notification of qualification has a single entry for the Joint Bidder, naming all entities participating in the Arrangement (e.g., the entities are listed as “Entity A and Entity B” on a single line or in some other manner that makes it clear that the entities have qualified as a single joint bidder).

Thus it is the Joint Bidder that becomes the Qualified Bidder able to submit a Part 2 Application; each party separately does not have the status of a Qualified Bidder and cannot continue in the Auction Process separately. Status as a Qualified Bidder cannot be rescinded or changed after the Auction Manager has issued the Notification of Qualification. In particular, the Qualified Bidder status of the Joint Bidder cannot be assigned or transferred to one of the parties to the Arrangement. Applicants certify in their Part 1 Application that they will not assign or transfer their status as a Qualified Bidder to another party.

Further, an entity that receives a Notification of Qualification, either as a single entity or as a Joint Bidder, acquires Qualified Bidder status and retains this status until the end of the Auction Process. Similarly, an entity, either as a single entity or as a Joint Bidder, that receives a Notification of Registration acquires Registered Bidder status and retains this status until the end of the Auction Process. There is no possibility to rescind or change this status. This means that an entity that becomes a Qualified Bidder and that does not submit a Part 2 Application is bound by all the certifications it has made in the Part 1 Application; this applies to both entities that enter an Arrangement. Similarly, an entity, either as a single entity or as a Joint Bidder, that becomes a Registered Bidder is bound by all the certifications it has made in the Part 1 and Part 2 Applications, regardless of whether the Registered Bidder subsequently participates in the auction.

Please review the certifications in the Part 1 and Part 2 Applications for more details and in particular for the time period during which these certifications must remain in effect.

Please note that assignment is possible under Section 15.3 of the BGS Supplier Master Agreements.  Thus, if one of Entity A or Entity B participates at the auction and wins, that entity could assign its tranches to the other entity at a later time, subject to the conditions of Section 15.3.

The presentation slides and accompanying audio for the first and second bidder information webcasts are posted to the Webcast Materials page of the BGS Auction website.

With the Part 2 Application, bidders must submit their executed Pre-Auction Letter(s) of Credit. The EDCs do not provide courtesy reviews of draft documents. Bidders must use the final version of the Pre-Auction Letter(s) of Credit or include only modifications that are acceptable to the EDCs on an optional basis as posted to the BGS Auction website. The list of modifications acceptable to the EDCs on an optional basis is available in the document entitled “Final Acceptable Modifications to Pre-Auction Letter of Credit” posted to the Application Process page of the BGS Auction website.

Bidders participating in both the BGS-RSCP Auction and the BGS-CIEP Auction should complete Inserts #P1-1 through #P1-5 and Inserts #P1-9 through #P1-11. 

Qualified Bidders will be provided with schedules for the Trial Auctions with their Part 2 Notification on January 22, 2026.

The materials relevant for the submission of the Part 1 Application are posted to the Application Process page on the BGS Auction website.

The Part 1 Application is made available to bidders on Tuesday, December 2, 2025.

As we understand your inquiry, Entity A would sell to Entity B a product that would obligate Entity A to post margin as an agent for Entity B when forward prices for PJM exceeded a certain threshold.  As you have described the product, the product applies for BGS obligations only and not for a wider range of trading obligations.  Further, it applies to BGS load won in Auctions already held and ruled upon by the BPU. 

There is no issue, with respect to BGS certifications that have been made, with the two entities transacting such a product that relate to positions won in past auctions once the Supplier Master Agreements have been signed for the relevant supply period.  Your concern is also whether entering into such a transaction could make it difficult for Entity A or Entity B to make the certifications required to participate in future BGS Auctions.   

Without going through each certification in detail, an entity will generally be required to certify in future auctions that the entity has no bidding agreements, no knowledge of another bidder’s bidding strategy, no knowledge of another bidder's preference for bidding on any product, or no knowledge of another bidder's valuation of any product in the upcoming auction.  You will also be required to certify that you have not revealed any such information to anyone, including another bidder.  It does not seem that selling the product you describe, in the particular timeframe you describe, related only to past BGS obligations, would create any type of bidding arrangement for a future auction, would reveal confidential information with respect to bidding strategy, would reveal either entity’s valuation of the BGS product for future auctions, or would reveal an entity's preference for bidding on any specific product.  Hence, it would seem that if Entity A and Entity B entered into this contingent credit sleeve arrangement in the timeframe you describe, the transaction would not have an impact on the certifications to be made for future auctions. 

Our response does not contemplate, and would not necessarily apply, to a situation in which Entity A and Entity B entered into a general corporate agreement where Entity A would be supporting all of Entity B’s trading obligations.  Similarly, we are assuming that the arrangement is not a transaction that would entail Entity A conducting due diligence with respect to Entity B’s trading operations, or BGS supply arrangements, or valuations (and vice versa).  Further, we are assuming, as you have stated, that this credit product is not for the purposes of bidding in future BGS Auctions.  Were any of these assumptions to be incorrect, the guidance we are providing could differ as the level of knowledge that each entity may have about the other’s valuation methods and preferences could make it difficult to make some of the required certifications.  However, trading a contingent credit sleeve on a one time basis, without a review of the other entity’s trading strategies and BGS hedging and supply arrangements, does not in itself appear to pose any problem for future auctions.  Finally, we note that the transaction you describe would not "make" one entity a financial institution for the other, and that any provisions for additional information to be provided to a financial institution under the Association and Confidential Information Rules would not apply to the circumstance described.

In general, Qualified Bidders that are associated with one another are considered as one bidder for the purposes of application of the load caps and for the administration of the auction.

Two affiliated entities may each be considering bidding in the auction and may separately submit a separate Part 1 Application, unaware that the other is also submitting a Part 1 Application.  In the Part 1 Application, each entity will be asked to declare either that 1) it is bidding independently; or 2) it is part of a bidding agreement, joint venture for the purpose of bidding in the auction, bidding consortium, or other arrangement pertaining to bidding in the auction.  Each entity would indicate that it is bidding independently given that it is unaware that the other is preparing an application to the auction.  Each entity would learn that an affiliated entity is also preparing to submit a bid in the same auction upon seeing the list of Qualified Bidders after having qualified through a successful Part 1 Application. 

A Qualified Bidder may submit a Part 2 Application but is not required to do so.  If one or both of these affiliated Qualified Bidders subsequently submits a Part 2 Application, it would name the other (i.e., would name the affiliated entity) as a bidder with which it is associated.  Whether or not the other Qualified Bidder submits a Part 2 Application is irrelevant to the requirement imposed on the Qualified Bidder that is submitting the Part 2 Application to disclose the association.  Furthermore, the Qualified Bidder submitting the Part 2 Application will be asked to make a number of other certifications or to make information disclosures that may be affected by the presence of the associated bidder.  In general, Qualified Bidders that are associated with one another are considered as one bidder for the purposes of application of the load caps and for the administration of the auction.  It is certainly possible for two affiliated entities both to participate in the same auction.  Should both affiliated entities submit a Part 2 Application, the Auction Manager will make a determination on a case-by-case basis of whether the two affiliated entities would be able to bid separately and whether the two affiliated would be considered as one bidder for the application of the load caps. 

If instead the two affiliated entities know that the other is preparing a Part 1 Application for the auction so that these entities will have communicated their potential intention to bid to each other, these entities are considered to be bidding as part of a bidding agreement, joint venture for the purpose of bidding in the auction, bidding consortium, or other arrangement (“Arrangement”) pertaining to bidding in the auction.  These entities should follow the procedures for entities that have entered into an Arrangement, as described in FAQ-76. 

When Entities participate in an Arrangement, it is typical to nominate one Entity to fulfill the creditworthiness requirements and to sign the Master Supplier Agreement.  If the Entities participating in the Arrangement are either uncertain as to which Entity will sign the Supplier Master Agreement or if any or all Entities may sign a Supplier Master Agreement, all Entities must submit to the creditworthiness evaluation in the Part 1 Application.  All Entities should then submit separate Part 1 Applications, with all required documents, and in the Insert for the Part 1 Application prepared specifically for that purpose, each Entity states that it is NOT bidding independently, each Entity describes the Arrangement, and each Entity names all other Entities that are participating in the Arrangement.  In this same Insert, the Authorized Representative of each Entity signs to confirm that the Entity will be subject to the creditworthiness requirements (since the Entity may execute the Supplier Master Agreement should the Entities under the Agreement win at the auction).  Each Entity would respond to any request for additional information from the Auction Manager.  For example, the Auction Manager may require that the Entities designate a single point of contact for purposes of providing materials related to the auction, including the confidential information needed to submit bids.  Each Entity would present its financial information for purposes of a creditworthiness assessment.  Assuming that all Entities submit all required materials and respond to all requests for information from the Auction Manager and provide all information requested by the Part 1 Application process, the Entities participating in the Arrangement would qualify as a single bidder (“Joint Bidder”).  The Entities participating in the Arrangement would receive a single notification of qualification, and would be designated as a single bidder on the list of Qualified Bidders.  However, because at the time of qualification it is not known which Entity or Entities would sign the Supplier Master Agreement, each Entity would receive a separate creditworthiness assessment that would specify the pre-auction security that the Entity must provide with the Part 2 Application.  Please note that each Qualified Bidder will consider all Entities named on the list of Qualified Bidders when making their certifications in the Part 2 Application, including all Entities participating in the Arrangement.

At the Part 2 Application stage, each Entity to the Arrangement would make the certifications of the Part 2 Application or make appropriate information disclosures.  The Entity responsible for the creditworthiness requirements and for signing the Supplier Master Agreement would be the Entity providing the pre-auction security required with the Part 2 Application and would be the Entity submitting the Part 2 Application.  If the issue of which Entity is to sign the Supplier Master Agreement and is to be subject to the creditworthiness requirements is still not resolved by the Part 2 Application deadline, or should multiple Entities intend to enter into the Supplier Master Agreement upon winning at the auction, each Entity participating in the Arrangement would submit a Part 2 Application.  In each Part 2 Application, the indicative offer and preliminary maximum interest (if applying to the BGS-RSCP Auction) would be expected to reflect the interest of Joint Bidder and thus would be expected to be identical in the Part 2 Application submitted by each Entity.  The indicative offer for Joint Bidder is subject to the same statewide load cap as any other single bidder in the auction.  The preliminary maximum interest of Joint Bidder, if applying to the BGS-RSCP Auction, is subject to the same EDC load caps as any other single bidder in the auction.  Each Entity would post the entire amount of pre-auction security required for the indicative offer presented at the maximum starting price.  The amounts of pre-auction security for each Entity participating in the Arrangement may be different depending on the creditworthiness assessment of the particular Entity but these amounts should all be based on the same indicative offer at the maximum starting price valid for Joint Bidder.  Each Entity will separately agree that the submission of any bid creates a binding and irrevocable offer to provide service under the terms of the Supplier Master Agreement and will separately agree to any other certification of the Part 2 Application applicable to the entity that would execute the Supplier Master Agreement should the entities participating in the Arrangement win at the auction.  Each Entity would additionally be required to agree that upon conclusion of the auction, Joint Bidder would provide to the Auction Manager any division among the Entities of tranches won by Joint Bidder for purposes of signing the Supplier Master Agreement.  The Entities participating in the Arrangement would receive a single notification of registration, would appear as a single bidder on the list of Registered Bidder, and would receive a single confidential information packet with information for the submission of bids.

If Joint Bidder wins at the auction, it may be the case that the issue of which Entity is to sign the Supplier Master Agreement has not been resolved at the conclusion of the auction or that multiple Entities intend to enter into the Supplier Master Agreement.  In accordance with their undertakings at the Part 2 Application stage, the Entities participating in the Arrangement are entirely responsible for providing to the Auction Manager, within one business day of the close of the auction, the names of the Entities that will sign the Supplier Master Agreement, and the number of tranches that each such Entity will serve.  Any failure of the Entities to agree on a division among themselves of the tranches won by Joint Bidder may result in the EDCs drawing upon the Pre-Auction Letters of Credit of any or all Entities participating in the Arrangement.  Should the Board approve the auction results, each such Entity will be responsible for signing the Supplier Master Agreement and meeting the creditworthiness requirements within three (3) business days of the Board decision.  The EDCs may draw upon the Pre-Auction Letter of Credit of an Entity that fails to abide by these obligations.  When the contract execution process is successfully concluded, the Auction Manager will cancel the Pre-Auction Letter of Credit separately for each Entity participating in the Arrangement.

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