On December 5, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit heard oral arguments in Transource Pennsylvania LLC v. Steven M. Defrank, et.al. The case presents the question of potential tension between FERC’s exclusive authority over transmission planning and a state’s siting authority. The court has not yet decided the case.
FERC Holds Technical Conference on Large Loads Co-Locating at Generating Facilities
On November 1, 2024, FERC Commissioners led a technical conference at their headquarters in Washington, DC, on issues pertaining to co-locating large loads at generating facilities. FERC Commissioners asked questions of individuals across the energy industry into how large loads, and data centers in particular, are impacting the grid and…
FERC Rejects Co-Located Load Increase Proposal at Nuclear Facility
On November 1, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) rejected an amended Interconnection Service Agreement (“ISA”) filed by PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) that proposed increasing the co-located data center load at a Susquehanna Nuclear, LLC (“Susquehanna”) nuclear generating facility. FERC held that PJM did not meet FERC’s “high burden”…
Growing the Solar and Storage Landscape With Mike Hall, Anza Renewables
Battery + Storage Podcast
In this episode, host Bill Derasmo welcomes Mike Hall, CEO of Anza Renewables. With more than 20 years of experience in the energy industry, Hall shares insights into the founding and growth of Anza in 2022. The discussion covers the importance of technology platforms, vendor relationships…
FERC Dismisses Challenges Related to Market-to-Market Coordination over Data Center-Constrained Flowgate
On September 10, 2024, FERC issued an Order denying two complaints. The first complaint was filed on January 23, 2023 by Montana-Dakota Utilities Company (“MDU”) against Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”) and Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (“SPP”). The second complaint was filed on March 8, 2024 by MISO against…
FERC Accepts SPP’s Proposed Tariff Revisions Allowing Make-Whole Payments
On September 19, 2024, FERC approved Southwest Power Pool, Inc.’s (“SPP”) proposed tariff revisions allowing make-whole payments for incremental energy costs for offers affected by the incremental energy offer cost caps required by FERC’s Order No. 831. In doing so, FERC found that the tariff revisions appropriately provide an opportunity…
D.C. Circuit Vacates FERC’s Approval of Transco’s Pipeline Expansion
On July 30, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) issued an opinion vacating and remanding FERC’s order approving Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company’s (“Transco”) Regional Energy Access Expansion Project (“Project”) determining that FERC failed to consider environmental consequences and evidence suggesting…
FERC Denies CPower’s Complaint Requesting Revisions to PJM’s Tariff Governing Curtailment Service Providers
On September 19, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) denied Enerwise Global Technologies, LLC’s (“CPower”) complaint against PJM Interconnection, LLC (“PJM”) alleging that PJM’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (“Tariff”) was unjust, unreasonable, and unduly discriminatory because it prevents Curtailment Service Providers (“CSP”) from using approved statistical sampling rules to…
Charging Ahead: Legal, Regulatory, and Operational Considerations for EV Infrastructure Development
The rapid growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales in the United States has created an urgent demand for robust EV charging infrastructure. The demand for EV charging infrastructure is driven by the need to ensure the benefits of EVs are fully realized. The EV industry has reached a critical tipping…
FERC Chief Accountant Proposes to Modify Transferability of Income Tax Credits
On September 12, 2024, FERC’s Chief Accountant issued a notice of proposed accounting release (“NOPAR”) to modify the transferability of income tax credits (“ITCs”) related to certain energy projects under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”), which allows entities to monetize such ITCs via transfers to independent third parties…