ISO-NE receives successful SOC 1 Type 2 report

ISO New England recently completed a 2019 Service Organization Controls (SOC) 1 Type 2 engagement that assessed the controls surrounding the market administration and settlements system for administering the wholesale electricity markets. 

The report, issued on November 8, 2019, covered the period of October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019. During that time, a team from KPMG LLP visited the ISO two times, reviewed 59 control objectives, and tested 240 control activities. For the 15th year in a row, ISO New England received an “unqualified opinion” from the independent auditor.

Why Audit?

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires many of New England’s market participants to annually verify their internal controls over financial statement reporting. Since the ISO’s market administration and settlements system affect market participants’ financial statements, the market participants need reasonable assurance that the ISO’s market administration and settlements system are designed and implemented to accurately process relevant transactions for financial statement reporting throughout the period.

The SOC 1 Type 2 engagement was developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants to give reasonable assurance to user entities that the service organizations they rely on have designed and implemented adequate control processes. Market participants and their independent auditors can use this third-party assessment of ISO New England’s market administration and settlements system when evaluating their own internal controls for financial statement reporting.