FERC Grants Petition for Declaratory Order Disclaiming Jurisdiction Over Passive Interests Under Section 203 and Market-Based Rate Requirements
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued an order granting a petition for declaratory order in Starwood Energy Group Global, Docket No. EL15-87-000, 153 FERC ¶ 61,332 (2015). The order found that transfer of certain passive interests would not require FERC authorization under section 203 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), such passive interests do not create affiliation requiring inclusion in certain market-based rate filings under FPA section 205, and holders of those passive interests alone would not result in the entities being considered public utilities under FPA section 201 or holding companies under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005 (PUHCA). [Read more]
D.C. Circuit Largely Upholds FERC's Approval of ISO-NE Winter Reliability Program, Cost-Allocation to Load-Serving Entities
On December 22, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ("D.C. Circuit") largely upheld FERC's approval of ISO New England Inc.'s ("ISO-NE") Winter 2013-2014 Reliability Program (the "Program"). The Program was designed to compensate selected oil-fired and dual-fuel generators to maintain sufficient supplies of fuel oil when system conditions were stressed. The court upheld FERC's decision to allocate the Program's costs to Load-Serving Entities ("LSEs"), as opposed to ISO-NE Transmission Owners. Lastly, the court remanded to FERC the issue of whether the Program's rates were just and reasonable. [Read more]
FERC Rejects NYISO's Proposed Revisions to Its Public Policy Transmission Planning Process
On December 23, 2015, FERC rejected the New York Independent System Operator, Inc.'s ("NYISO") proposed revisions to the Public Policy Transmission Planning Process ("Public Policy Process") portion of its Comprehensive System Planning Process ("CSPP") reflected in Attachment Y of its Open Access Transmission Tariff ("OATT"). In rejecting the proposal, FERC found that NYISO proposed tariff revisions that would subject nonincumbent transmission developers to an interconnection process with different requirements than those applied to incumbent Transmission Owners. [Read more]
NYPSC Seeks to Replace Net Metering, Create Methodology to Value Distributed Energy Resources
On December 23, 2015, the New York Public Service Commission ("NYPSC") issued a notice soliciting comments and proposals on an interim successor to net energy metering. The order also established a preliminary conference on January 7, 2016 to discuss the matter. The NYPSC's notice was issued in accordance with prior NYPSC orders directing the establishment of a methodology for valuing distributed energy resources ("DER"). The notice indicates that the NYPSC is seeking to establish a new methodology and process for determining the full value of DER prior to December 31, 2016. [Read more]
FERC Orders Technical Conference on PJM ARR and FTR Revenue Issues
On December 28, 2015, FERC issued an order establishing a technical conference on revenue adequacy issues relating to PJM's allocation of Auction Revenue Rights ("ARR") and Financial Transmission Rights ("FTR"). On October 19, 2015, PJM submitted proposed changes to Schedule 1 of its Amended and Restated Operating Agreement pursuant to Section 206 of the Federal Power Act ("FPA"). On the same day, PJM also submitted a filing pursuant to Section 205 of the FPA wherein PJM proposed revisions to its Attachment K-Appendix. According to PJM, a cost-shift is occurring where revenues from ARR holders are being redirected to FTR holders, due to a reduction in the quantity of ARRs. PJM argues that the cost shift under the existing ARR and FTR provisions renders them unjust and unreasonable, which necessitated the recent filings. [Read more]
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