On February 5, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC" or the "Commission") accepted proposed revisions to the Joint Operating Agreement ("JOA") between PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. ("PJM") and the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. ("MISO") that eliminated the $20 million minimum cost threshold that a transmission facility must meet in order to qualify as an Interregional Market Efficiency Project ("IMEP")—a designation under the JOA that permits the construction of transmission upgrades between PJM and MISO. [Read more →]
FERC to Convene Technical Conference on PURPA Implementation Issues
On February 9, 2016, FERC issued a notice that it plans to hold a technical conference on implementation issues under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 ("PURPA") on June 29, 2016. The technical conference will be held at FERC's offices. FERC indicated in its notice that the technical conference will be webcast and transcribed. The notice was issued in FERC Docket No. AD16-16-000, and indicates that further information, including information on topics, speakers, and technical conference organization, will be provided via supplemental notice in that docket at a later date.
A copy of the notice can be found here.
U.S. Supreme Court Grants Stay of the Clean Power Plan
by Environmental Law and Policy Monitor
On Tuesday, February 9, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay of the Clean Power Plan based on applications filed by a broad coalition of states, the coal industry, the utility industry, and chambers of commerce. The parties filed the applications after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals denied similar motions. [Read more →]
CFTC's Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee Will Meet on February 25, 2016
On February 11, 2016, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") announced that the Energy and Environmental Markets Advisory Committee ("EEMAC") will hold a public meeting at the CFTC's headquarters in Washington, D.C. on February 25, 2016 from 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM. The CFTC further announced that, at the meeting, EEMAC will (1) present a report summarizing its 2015 proceedings; (2) examine the CFTC's Proposed Order exempting certain Transmission Congestion Rights, Day-Ahead and Real-Time Balancing Market, and Operating Reserve Transactions in the Southwest Power Pool from the CFTC's fraud and manipulation jurisdiction and scienter-based prohibitions; and (3) consider the CFTC Staff Preliminary Report regarding the Swap Dealer De Minimis Exception (see November 18, 2015 edition of the WER). [Read more →]
FERC Denies AEP's Request for Waiver of PJM's Capacity Performance Construct
On January 29, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") denied American Electric Power Service Corporation's ("AEP") request for a limited waiver of provisions of the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. ("PJM") Open Access Transmission Tariff ("Tariff") and the Reliability Assurance Agreement ("RAA") that impose capacity performance non-performance charges ("CPNP Charges") on fixed resource requirement ("FRR") entities beginning in the 2019/2020 delivery year. AEP's waiver request stemmed from a June 9, 2015 order (see June 17, 2015 edition of the WER) in which FERC approved PJM's capacity performance construct ("CP Construct") that requires PJM load-serving entities to decide by March 7, 2016 whether to participate in PJM's Reliability Pricing Model ("RPM") capacity auction or alternatively to elect to be an FRR entity. Under the CP Construct, should AEP elect to be an FRR entity, it will be subject to (i) enhanced capacity performance rules including a requirement to submit to PJM a capacity plan that includes at least 80 percent capacity performance qualifying resources, and (ii) the requirement to implement full financial or physical non-performance assessments. [Read more →]
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