On October 18, 2012, FERC issued Order No. 1000-B, which affirmed its basic determinations in Order Nos. 1000 and 1000-A regarding the Commission’s reforms to transmission planning and cost allocation. Previously, in Order No. 1000, the Commission amended the transmission planning and cost allocation requirements established in Order No. 890, requiring:
- Participation by each public utility transmission provider in a regional transmission planning process that produces a regional transmission plan and includes both regional and interregional cost allocation methodologies which each satisfy six defined cost allocation principles;
- Local and regional transmission planning processes which provide an opportunity to identify and evaluate transmission needs driven by public policy requirements established by state or federal laws or regulations;
- Improved coordination between neighboring transmission planning regions for new interregional transmission facilities; and
- The removal of a federal right of first refusal from Commission-approved tariffs and agreements.
Subsequently, in Order No. 1000-A, the Commission upheld the reforms adopted in Order No. 1000, concluding that the reforms, when considered together, would ensure that Commission-jurisdictional services are provided at just and reasonable rates and on a basis that is not unduly discriminatory or preferential. While the Commission made several clarifications to the rule, it did not eliminate or modify any of the reforms it made in Order No. 1000. In Order No. 1000-B, the Commission again denied requests for rehearing, declining to eliminate or modify any of its reforms.
Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur dissented in part, departing from the Commission’s affirmation that an incumbent transmission provider may not retain a federal right of first refusal for a new transmission project that may be considered local if the project receives regional funding. Instead, Commissioner LaFleur stated that the Commission’s decision on this issue is premature and should have been reserved for a case-by-case determination on compliance.
Changes to Order Nos. 1000 and 1000-A made in Order No. 1000-B will be effective thirty days after publication in the Federal Register.
For a copy of Order No. 1000-B, click here.