Katherine O'Konski

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On February 21, 2023, FERC accepted PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (“PJM”) proposed tariff revisions governing the Locational Deliverability Area Reliability Requirement (“LDA Reliability Requirement”) calculation, effective December 24, 2022, and applicable to the 2024/2025 Base Residual Auction (“BRA”), which was in progress at the time that PJM submitted its filing. Specifically, FERC accepted tariff changes that would allow PJM, during the BRA process, to exclude Planned Generation Capacity Resources from the LDA Reliability Requirement calculation if the addition of such resources materially increases the reliability requirement and such resources do not participate in the capacity auction. The February 21 Order also dismissed as moot a complaint filed by PJM challenging the justness and reasonableness of the existing LDA Reliability Requirement. Finally, the February 21 Order stated that FERC would soon convene a forum to examine the functioning of the PJM capacity market. Commissioner Danly issued a separate dissenting statement.…

Continue Reading FERC Accepts PJM Capacity Market Revisions to Locational Deliverability Area Reliability Requirement, Sparks Strong Dissent from Commissioner Danly

On February 16, 2023, FERC approved two new extreme cold weather Reliability Standards—EOP-011-3 (Emergency Operations) and EOP-012-1 (Extreme Cold Weather Preparedness and Operations)—filed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) and aimed at implementing the recommendations resulting from a joint inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Winter Storm Uri. However, FERC also directed modifications to EOP-012-1 to address what FERC characterized as concerns over the Standard’s applicability, ambiguity, lack of objective measures and deadlines, and prolonged, indefinite compliance periods. The new Reliability Standards constitute the first phase of NERC’s effort to implement the recommendations resulting from the joint inquiry into the 2021 winter storm. NERC stated that it will address the remaining recommendations in the second phase of the project.…

Continue Reading FERC Approves Extreme Cold Weather Reliability Standards in Response to Winter Storm Uri

On January 27, 2023, FERC approved the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”) Transmission Owners’ (“TOs”) proposal to terminate reactive power charges and compensation under MISO’s Open Access Transmission, Energy, and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff (“Tariff”), effective December 1, 2022.  As a result, MISO will no longer charge transmission customers for reactive power service within the standard power range, and no generators, whether affiliated with the MISO TOs or not, will receive compensation for providing reactive power service within the standard power factor range.  Nevertheless, FERC’s determination does not affect MISO generators’ ongoing obligation to provide reactive power.  If MISO directs a generator to provide reactive power outside of the standard power factor range, the generator will be compensated based on existing mechanisms already included in MISO’s Tariff.  …

Continue Reading FERC Allows MISO Transmission Owners to Retroactively Terminate Reactive Power Compensation Back to December 2022

On January 19, 2023, FERC issued an order upholding its decision to exercise primary jurisdiction over emergency energy sales between Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (“SPP”) and Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. (“AECI”) during Winter Storm Uri and FERC’s decision that SPP properly compensated AECI pursuant to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“Tariff”).…

Continue Reading On Rehearing, FERC Upholds Jurisdiction over AECI Emergency Energy Transactions in SPP Market During Winter Storm Uri

On December 15, 2022, FERC issued an order accepting Arizona Public Service Company’s (“APS”) revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“Tariff”) that would allow APS to begin using the Flowgate Methodology for calculating Available Transfer Capability (“ATC”) instead of its current Rated System Path Methodology. In addition, FERC denied APS’s request to waive the requirement to post its Total Transfer Capability (“TTC”) values on the Open Access Same Time Information System (“OASIS”).…

Continue Reading FERC Accepts Arizona Public Service Company’s Proposal to Adopt Flowgate ATC Methodology and Denies Its Request to Waive TTC Posting Requirements

On November 2, 2022, FERC denied a complaint brought by the Iowa Coalition for Affordable Transmission (“ICAT”) alleging that ITC Midwest, LLC’s (“ITC Midwest”) capital structure, with a targeted 60%-40% equity-to-debt ratio, is unjust and unreasonable. FERC found that ICAT failed to demonstrate that ITC Midwest’s use of its actual capital structure to determine its equity ratio is unjust and unreasonable and that ICAT’s reliance on prior FERC precedent was misplaced. Given these findings, FERC declined to address ICAT’s arguments for a 53% equity ratio.…

Continue Reading FERC Denies Complaint Against ITC Midwest’s Capital Structure

On September 22, 2022, FERC denied a complaint filed on October 14, 2020 by Cricket Valley Energy Center LLC and Empire Generating Company, LLC. Complainants alleged that the New York Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“NYISO’s”) capacity market offer floor rules—termed buyer-side market power mitigation rules (“BSM Rules”)—were unjust and unduly discriminatory because they failed to address price suppression in NYISO’s installed capacity (“ICAP”) spot market auctions. Complainants requested that FERC require NYISO to implement a minimum offer price rule (“MOPR”) that applies to all new and existing resources that receive out-of-market subsidies, with few or no exceptions. In denying the complaint, FERC relied on a May 2022 order accepting changes to NYISO’s BSM Rules to automatically exclude wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, fuel cells that do not use fossil fuel, and demand response resources from adhering to an offer floor when bidding into NYISO’s capacity market. Commissioner James Danly issued a dissenting statement and Commissioner Mark Christie issued a concurring statement.…

Continue Reading FERC Denies Complaint Requesting Broadly-Applicable MOPR in NYISO

On September 16, 2022, a panel of three judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) issued a decision in United Power, Inc. v. FERC affirming FERC’s exclusive jurisdiction over exit fees charged by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. (“Tri-State”), a Colorado generation and transmission cooperative.…

Continue Reading D.C. Circuit Holds that FERC Has Exclusive Jurisdiction Over Exit Fees Charged by a Colorado Electric Cooperative

On August 26, 2022, Commissioner James Danly issued a statement in the FERC docket addressing PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (“PJM”) replacement, focused Minimum Offer Price Rule (“Focused MOPR”). Commissioner Danly argued that the FERC Solicitor’s Office should not have filed its brief defending the Focused MOPR in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (“Third Circuit”), and that doing so violated the Department of Energy Organization Act (“DOE Organization Act”) and the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”). Following the statement, on September 7, 2022, certain Petitioners in the Third Circuit appeal proceedings filed a motion to strike FERC’s brief. Their motion argues that FERC’s brief should not have been filed because the Commission never voted to accept the Focused MOPR, and that filing the brief violates both the DOE Organization Act and constitutional limitations on the authority of executive officials. The Third Circuit has not yet acted on the motion.
Continue Reading Commissioner Danly Issues Statement Objecting to FERC Brief Defending MOPR in Third Circuit Appeal Proceedings; Third Circuit Petitioners Move to Strike FERC’s Brief

On August 31, 2022, FERC issued two orders regarding two proposals to revise the Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (“MISO”) resource adequacy requirements. In the first order, FERC accepted MISO’s proposal to move to seasonal resource adequacy requirements rather than a single requirement based on the summer peak. MISO proposed this seasonal resource adequacy construct to address significant increases in emergency events that occur year-round, driven by factors including generation retirements, reliance on intermittent resources, outages resulting from extreme weather events, and declining excess reserve margin. MISO will implement the new seasonal resource adequacy construct in the next Planning Resource Auction (“Auction”) to be held in April 2023. In the second order, FERC rejected MISO’s proposal to require a Minimum Capacity Obligation for participants in MISO’s Auction (“MCO Proposal”).
Continue Reading FERC Approves MISO Seasonal Resource Adequacy Requirements but Rejects Minimum Capacity Obligation