On April 15, 2021, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) to supplement the March 2020 NOPR regarding its electric transmission incentive policy under Federal Power Act (“FPA”) section 219 (see March 23, 2020 edition of the WER). While FERC’s March 2020 NOPR proposed to provide all utilities that turn over their wholesale transmission facilities to a Regional Transmission Organization (“RTO”) a fixed 100 basis-point increase in return on equity (“ROE”) (“RTO Participation Incentive”), the Supplemental NOPR proposes instead to codify its current practice of granting a 50 basis-point RTO Participation Incentive for utilities that join an RTO. In addition, FERC proposes that a utility will only be eligible for the incentive for the first three years after transferring operational control of its facilities to an RTO. The Supplemental NOPR also seeks comment on whether the RTO participation adder should be available solely to utilities that join an RTO voluntarily, and if so, how FERC should determine that the decision to join was voluntary. Commissioner Mark Christie issued a separate concurring statement, and Commissioners Neil Chatterjee and James Danly each issued separate dissenting statements.
Continue Reading FERC Proposes Reforms to RTO Participation Incentive in Supplemental NOPR

On March 30, 2021, FERC accepted the New York Independent System Operator’s (“NYISO”) proposed Co-located Storage Resource (“CSR”) Participation Model to enable energy storage resources (“ESRs”) paired with wind or solar resources to share a common point of injection and participate in the NYISO-administered markets. FERC’s order accepted revisions to NYISO’s Energy and Ancillary Services (“E&AS”) market rules, its metering rules, its Interconnection Process, its Installed Capacity Market participation rules, and its market power mitigation measures to accommodate the interconnection and participation of an ESR that is co-located with a wind or solar resource. Chairman Glick issued a concurring statement addressing NYISO’s application of existing buyer-side market power rules to co-located ESR and intermittent resources, urging NYISO “to move expeditiously to replace those rules with a model that moves beyond the minimum offer price rule as a means for mediating the interaction between state policies and wholesale markets.”
Continue Reading FERC Accepts NYISO Co-Located Storage Resource Participation Model

On March 18, 2021, FERC granted two consolidated complaints alleging that the default offer cap in PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (“PJM”) capacity market is unjust and unreasonable because the Expected Performance Assessment Intervals input, set at a value of 360 12-minute intervals (30 hours), is too high. Ultimately, FERC found that the default offer cap is “incorrectly calibrated,” rendering PJM and its Market Monitor unable to ensure competitive market outcomes. FERC ordered additional briefing on a replacement rate, but concluded that PJM’s capacity auction for the 2022-2023 delivery year, scheduled for May 2021, should go forward under the current rules.
Continue Reading FERC Grants Complaints, Directs Further Briefing on PJM Capacity Market Default Offer Cap

FERC is hosting a number of workshops and technical conferences over the next several months. These include the Resource Adequacy technical conference; Listening Tour for the Office of Public Participation; workshop on compliance with Order No. 860; conference on Electrification and the Grid; and a technical conference on the threats climate change poses to the grid.  Read on for more information about each.
Continue Reading Upcoming FERC Workshops and Technical Conferences

On February 18, 2021, FERC took action in a multi-year dispute over the PJM Interconnection’s capacity market pricing rule known as the Minimum Offer Price Rule (or, “MOPR”) by vacating a single troublesome footnote from its last order, making way for PJM to move ahead with its annual capacity auction after years of delay. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit will soon take up a host of appeals of FERC’s decisions on the controversial MOPR.
Continue Reading In PJM MOPR Proceeding, FERC Vacates Footnote Prompting Danly Dissent

On January 19, 2021, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) seeking comments on the appropriate accounting and reporting treatment for certain renewable energy assets and for the purchase, generation and use of renewable energy credits (“REC”). Specifically, FERC requested input on the potential creation of new, non-hydro renewable technology accounts within the Uniform System of Accounts (“USofA”), the potential reporting requirements for such accounts, and how the creation of such accounts may impact formula rates. FERC also asked for comments on whether to codify the accounting treatment of the purchase, generation, and use of RECs. Initial comments are due March 27, 2021, with reply comments due April 26, 2021.
Continue Reading FERC Issues Notice of Inquiry on Accounting Treatment of Renewable Energy Assets

On December 21, 2020, FERC modified its previous cost-of-service compensation decisions allowing Constellation Mystic Power, LLC (“Mystic”) to continue operating two gas-fired generation facilities (“Mystic 8 and 9”) fueled exclusively by an affiliate, Everett Marine Terminal (“Everett”), which, like Mystic, is owned by Exelon Generation Company, LLC (“Exelon”). Commissioner Richard Glick dissented, reiterating his belief that FERC has exceeded its jurisdiction to “bail out” the liquified natural gas (“LNG”) import terminal.
Continue Reading FERC Alters Mystic’s Cost-of-Service Agreement; Commissioner Glick Dissents Again

On December 17, 2020, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposing to revise its regulations to establish incentives for public utilities to make certain cybersecurity investments that go beyond the current requirements of the Critical Infrastructure Protection (“CIP”) Reliability Standards established by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) (“Cybersecurity NOPR”). Specifically, FERC proposed rules to allow regulated entities to:

  1. receive incentive-based rate treatment for the voluntary implementation of: (i) certain NERC CIP Reliability Standards to facilities that are not currently subject to those requirements (“NERC CIP Incentives Approach”), and/or (ii) certain security controls included in the National Institute of Standards and Technology Framework (“NIST Framework Approach”);
  2. request a return-on-equity adder of two hundred (200) basis points for making eligible cybersecurity capital investments; and
  3. defer cost recovery of certain cybersecurity costs that are generally expensed as incurred, and treat such costs as regulatory assets that may be included in transmission rate base.

Continue Reading FERC Issues Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Cybersecurity Investment Incentives

On December 2, 2020, FERC clarified that when an entity with passive equity holdings in a company later wants to assume operational responsibilities over the company, the entity must obtain authorization under Federal Power Act (“FPA”) section 203 prior to the assumption of operational management responsibilities. FERC’s December 2 order on rehearing modified the discussion in a May 29, 2020 order in the proceedings approving Tenaska Lotus Holdings, LLC’s (“Tenaska Lotus”) assumption of rights as operations manager of 41MB 8me, LLC (“Project Company”) (together, “Applicants”), a 51 MW solar facility in California.
Continue Reading FERC Clarifies FPA Section 203 Authorization Requirements Prior to Acquisition of a Utility’s Operational Management Responsibilities

On December 2, 2020, FERC ordered ISO New England, Inc. (“ISO-NE”) to remove the price-lock mechanism and zero-price offer rule (together, the “New Entrant Rules”) from Tariff provisions relating to its Forward Capacity Market (“FCM”), finding that the price certainty benefit afforded by these rules no longer outweighs their price suppressive effects. FERC also clarified that its termination of these rules would not impact price-lock agreements in effect prior to the issuance of its order. FERC thus ordered ISO-NE to eliminate the New Entrant rules starting in its sixteenth Forward Capacity Auction (“FCA”).
Continue Reading FERC Orders ISO-NE to Remove FCM New Entrant Rules From its Tariff