Forty years after enactment: How will PURPA evolve?
By Andrea Sarmentero Garzón and Gerit Hull, Jennings Strouss The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) was enacted Nov. 9, 1978, to promote energy conservation (reduce demand) and promote greater use (increase supply) of domestic energy and renewable energy resources in response to the 1973 energy crisis. Much…
FERC to Explore Policy Changes on Transmission Rate Incentives and Base ROE
By Andrea Sarmentero Garzón and Gerit Hull, Jennings Strouss FERC issued two Notices of Inquiry (NOIs) at its March 21, 2019 open meeting. The NOIs address transmission rate incentives policy (Docket No. PL19-3) and base return on equity (ROE) policy (Docket No. PL19-4). The incentives NOI examines, among other things,…
Fourth Circuit Vacates National Park Service Right-of-Way Permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project
In another blow to the construction of the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), certificated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on October 13, 2017, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on August 6: (1) vacated as arbitrary and…
FERC To Expand PJM’s Minimum Offer Price Rule to All Planned and Existing Resources – A Battle To Preserve States’ Jurisdiction Over Generation Facilities and to Carve Out Appropriate Exemptions Ensues
On June 29, 2018, FERC issued an order rejecting two proposals (i.e., the Capacity Repricing and the MOPR-Ex proposals) filed by PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) to address subsidization of resources in its capacity markets (Docket No. ER18-1314). The FERC order also granted in part a complaint…
FERC Initiates Review of Its Long-Standing Pipeline Certificate Policy Statement
Last Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) seeking comment on possible changes needed to its 1999 Policy Statement on certification of new interstate pipelines. The NOI notes the almost two decades since the 1999 Policy Statement was approved and acknowledges that the…
FERC Issues Orders in Cases Involving Rates for Transmission Service, Wholesale Power Rates, and Competition in RTO Markets
By: Gerit Hull, Gary Newell, and Andrea Sarmentero Garzon The following are summaries of recent orders issued by FERC in four proceedings in which Jennings Strouss was involved. The proceedings involve rates for transmission service, wholesale power rates, and competition in RTO markets. The Commission denied a request for a…
Issue of Coordination with Affected Systems Rises to Forefront at FERC
By: Deborah Swanstrom* The issue of coordination with Affected Systems has long been a proverbial “elephant in the room” when generation project developers request interconnection service from a Transmission Provider and the interconnection may impact neighboring systems. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) largely side-stepped the issue when it originally…
FERC Issues Final Rule Requiring RTOs to Provide for Participation of Electric Storage Resources in Organized Markets
On February 15, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued Order No. 841, Electric Storage in Markets Operated by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators. Order No. 841 requires tariff reforms in order to facilitate the participation of electric storage resources in capacity, energy, and ancillary services markets…