ATLANTA, Sept. 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Georgia Power has elected Kelly L. Loeffler to the company's board of directors, effective October 1, 2019. Loeffler is CEO of the Atlanta-headquartered Bakkt, a subsidiary of the Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE).

Bakkt is a regulated, global ecosystem designed to enable custody, markets and use cases for digital assets such as cryptocurrency, or Bitcoin. As CEO, Loeffler is responsible for establishing the strategy and team, as well as the regulatory, financial and operational performance of the company. She is also a member of Intercontinental Exchange's Executive Management Committee. ICE operates markets where natural gas and other energy commodities are traded electronically.

"Working in the financial services sector for the last two decades, Kelly played a significant role in the early stages of ICE and through that responsibility has been specifically involved in investing and trading within the energy sector and carbon markets. Her latest role with Bakkt has her poised at the forefront of the cryptocurrency market," said Paul Bowers, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power. "This insight into the global energy market and her unique digital experience will provide an extremely valuable perspective as we evolve as an energy industry and as a business to build a sustainable energy future for our customers and state. We welcome her to the Georgia Power board of directors."

Loeffler joined ICE in 2002 where she built and led investor relations, corporate communications and marketing for over 15 years. She led a global team and was responsible for managing all aspects of the company's investor relations program, as well as media relations, marketing and brand strategy in support of ICE's exchange, clearing and data operations. Loeffler was paramount in taking the company public in 2005. Just as she played a critical role in the early stages of ICE, her leadership will be important as Bakkt works to establish and offer a federally regulated market for Bitcoin.

As an active member in the Atlanta community, Loeffler is a Board Trustee for the Georgia Research Alliance and on the boards of Grady Memorial Hospital Corporation, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Skyland Trail, a nonprofit mental health treatment organization based in Atlanta. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and completed a Master of Business Administration from DePaul University's Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. Loeffler is also co-owner & co-chairman of the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association.

About Georgia Power 

Georgia Power is the largest electric subsidiary of Southern Company (NYSE: SO), America's premier energy company. Value, Reliability, Customer Service and Stewardship are the cornerstones of the company's promise to 2.6 million customers in all but four of Georgia's 159 counties. Committed to delivering clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy at rates below the national average, Georgia Power maintains a diverse, innovative generation mix that includes nuclear, coal and natural gas, as well as renewables such as solar, hydroelectric and wind. Georgia Power focuses on delivering world-class service to its customers every day and the company is consistently recognized by J.D. Power and Associates as an industry leader in customer satisfaction. For more information, visit www.GeorgiaPower.com and connect with the company on Facebook (Facebook.com/GeorgiaPower), Twitter (Twitter.com/GeorgiaPower) and Instagram (Instagram.com/ga_power).

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kelly-l-loeffler-named-to-georgia-power-board-of-directors-300917232.html

SOURCE Georgia Power

NEW YORK, Nov. 1, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Platts ("Platts"), the leading independent provider of information, benchmark prices and analytics for the commodities and energy markets, and Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. ("ICE") a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, today jointly announced the launch of a new suite of North American natural gas indices to better capture dramatically altered supply and demand flows, regional price differentials and increased spot market volatility in the US and Canada.

The physical natural gas market has changed significantly in recent years due to dramatic increases in Northeast gas production, reversal of flow of existing pipelines, new pipeline projects, and increasing sources of demand such as power generation, liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, and exports to Mexico.  In response to these developments and through extended market engagement with the industry, S&P Global Platts and ICE have developed Platts-ICE GIA to provide more transparency into North American spot market volatility and regional price differentials.

The new suite of physical natural gas price indices incorporate prior-season supply and demand flows and physical next-day natural gas prices at 20 locations across four regions in North America.  The indices will be published daily after the close of trading; will be based on Platts Natural Gas indices as published in Gas Daily; and, are the result of next-day, physical fixed-price trades reported to S&P Global Platts by Price Reporters and natural gas trades concluded on the ICE screen.

The Platts-ICE GIA suite includes:

• GIA North America
• GIA Northeast
• GIA South
• GIA Midwest
• GIA West

The indices are designed to capture comprehensive market fundamentals for North America as a whole, as well as each region, thereby making them more responsive to supply, demand, weather, infrastructure and other changes that can cause market and price volatility.

Mark Callahan, Editorial Director, Americas Gas and Power Pricing, S&P Global Platts:  "The launch of Platts-ICE GIA represents a key step in strengthening our US natural gas offering and follows a long period of engagement with market participants and close collaboration with Intercontinental Exchange. By offering more transparency into North American natural gas markets, Platts-ICE GIA allows producers, traders, hedgers, risk managers and investors to better understand one of the World's most advanced onshore natural gas markets. The concept of using pipeline nomination data to combine locations into regions to reflect broader market conditions, but critically avoid overexposure to a single location, has been well received by market participants."

J.C. Kneale, Vice President, North American Natural Gas, Power and NGL Markets, ICE: "By leveraging the strength of ICE and Platts' physical markets experience, GIA provide an improved, alternative index for North American and regional hedging for customers both domestically and globally. There is a growing market sentiment that significant regional volatility and market fundamentals are not being adequately captured in the Henry Hub natural gas futures contract, making it tougher to hedge price risk. That's why we're pleased to take this next step in our partnership with S&P Global Platts to power these new indices, which should be of interest to a broad set of market participants, including financial institutions and other investor types."

Events last winter provide evidence of the value of regional-specific indices. From Dec 26, 2017 to Jan 5, 2018, the US Northeast and Midwest experienced well below normal temperatures and regional prices swung dramatically, which resulted in a cargo of natural gas at sea (in the form of LNG) to change destinations to meet market need in the US Northeast. This weather-driven gas demand was clearly demonstrated by the Platts-ICE GIA Northeast and Midwest indices, but market fundamentals at Henry Hub during the period failed to reflect the regional dynamics and, instead, the prompt-month values held to a tight range.   

Leveraging S&P Global Platts' extensive database of more than 35,000 pipeline meter points across the country and benchmark pricing for more than 200 locations, the new Platts-ICE GIA suite provides a view of natural gas prices regionally and pan-North America, with a focus on areas with the highest supply and demand flows. That enables the indices to be more reflective of each respective regional market.

S&P Global Platts Analytics uses the prior winter or summer season pipeline flows to determine locations, location weightings, and regional weightings in the Platts-ICE GIA.  This results in a dynamic methodology that incorporates market changes such as new pipelines, changes in flows, and new sources of demand, highlighting locations in each region which are the most relevant.  The methodology is designed to ensure no single location or region can dominate the indices.

The methodology for the new Platts-ICE GIA indices may be found at:  https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/our-methodology/methodology-specifications/natural-gas.

S&P Global Platts and ICE on November 21, 2016, entered a data-sharing partnership to strengthen the North America's natural gas benchmarks, streamline the reporting process, and further improve transparency in over-the-counter (OTC) pricing.  Platts and ICE have been energy technology and data partners since 2007. 

S&P Global Platts price references in natural gas have been recognized by the marketplace and industry as the North American benchmarks for nearly 30 years.  

About S&P Global Platts

At S&P Global Platts, we provide the insights; you make better informed trading and business decisions with confidence. We're the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to our expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets. S&P Global Platts coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping.

S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.platts.com.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 and Fortune Future 50 company formed in the year 2000 to modernize markets. ICE serves customers by operating the exchanges, clearing houses and information services they rely upon to invest, trade and manage risk across global financial and commodity markets. A leader in market data, ICE Data Services serves the information and connectivity needs across virtually all asset classes. As the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, the company raises more capital than any other exchange in the world, driving economic growth and transforming markets.

Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located at http://www.intercontinentalexchange.com/terms-of-use. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading "Key information Documents (KIDS)".

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 -- Statements in this press release regarding ICE's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017, as filed with the SEC on February 7, 2018.

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) operates the leading network of global futures and equity exchanges and provides world class clearing, data and listing services across many markets. The New York Stock Exchange is the world leader in capital raising and equities trading. Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located at www.intercontinentalexchange.com/terms-of-use.

View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sp-global-platts--intercontinental-exchange-launch-new-national-and-regional-natural-gas-indices-300742206.html

SOURCE S&P Global Platts; ICE

NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Platts ("Platts"), the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets, and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses, today announced they have entered into a strategic agreement to strengthen North America's natural gas benchmarks, streamline the reporting process, and further improve transparency in over-the-counter (OTC) pricing.

Under this agreement, ICE data regarding daily and monthly physical natural gas transactions will be anonymized and included as inputs into the Platts physical market price assessment processes. Not only will the addition of ICE data increase the volumes of natural gas underpinning the Platts natural gas benchmarks, it will expand the number of trades and market participants reflected in the Platts price assessment processes. 

After a transitional period, Platts will grant ICE exclusive rights to use Platts' North American physical natural gas benchmarks in the settling and clearing of natural gas derivatives contracts.

A key benefit of this agreement is that market participants will be able to use ICE exchange transactions and ICE eConfirm, an industry-leading electronic trade confirmation service, as a means of having their transactions data used in the Platts price assessment process.  This brings additional data and efficiency to the assessment process. A transition period will apply before Platts incorporates the ICE data into its assessments and before ICE eConfirm can be used for submitting trades, which is targeted to be completed at end of the first quarter 2017.

Martin Fraenkel, president of S&P Global Platts, said: "This historic agreement with ICE will help streamline the price assessment process for market participants and bring greater robustness to North American natural gas markets. Further, it increases the value to our customers of our natural gas benchmarks, which will be underpinned by the most complete set of data available. We will work with ICE over the coming months to communicate the changes to the price assessment methodology and to ensure a smooth transition for our respective customers and market participants."

David Goone, chief strategy officer at ICE, said: "We have a long track record of working with S&P Global Platts to support market participants and provide risk management and price discovery solutions for the energy and other commodities markets. As the premier trading venue for natural gas and electricity in North America, we're excited to play a vital role in further enhancing the value of North America's natural gas benchmarks to gas market participants."   

Platts and ICE have been energy technology and data partners since 2007.  For nearly a decade, ICE's OTC trading data has been incorporated into the Platts forward curve data products available to the North American natural gas and electricity markets. 

Access the online resource www.platts.com/ice for additional information on the data and technology agreement between S&P Global Platts and ICE.  For more information on ICE and its eConfirm platform, visit www.theice.com.

Platts price references in natural gas have been recognized by the marketplace and industry as the North American benchmarks for nearly 30 years. Platts publishes prices for 109 daily locations and 90 monthly locations.

About Intercontinental Exchange
Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) operates the leading network of global futures and equity exchanges and provides world class clearing, data and listing services across many markets. The New York Stock Exchange is the world leader in capital raising and equities trading. Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located at www.intercontinentalexchange.com/terms-of-use.

About S&P Global Platts
At S&P Global Platts, we provide the insights; you make better informed trading and business decisions with confidence. We're the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Customers in over 150 countries look to our expertise in news, pricing and analytics to deliver greater transparency and efficiency to markets. S&P Global Platts coverage includes oil and gas, power, petrochemicals, metals, agriculture and shipping.

S&P Global Platts is a division of S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI), which provides essential intelligence for individuals, companies and governments to make decisions with confidence. For more information, visit www.platts.com.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161120/441454LOGO    
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160510/365785LOGO

CONTACT:
At S&P Global Platts: Kathleen Tanzy, + 1 917 331 4607, kathleen.tanzy@spglobal.com 
At ICE: Damon Leavell, +1 212 323 8587, damon.leavell@theice.com 

SOURCE S&P Global Platts; ICE