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CPUC Declines to Adopt Community Renewables Proposal and Also Declines to Address the Legality of Compensation to Community Renewable Resources at Prices Above PURPA Avoided Cost
By Jennifer Key
On May 30, 2024, the Public Utilities Commission of California (CPUC) voted 3-1 to adopt an alternative Proposed Decision issued by Administrative Law Judges Kelly A. Hyme regarding a community renewable (CR) net value billing tariff (NVBT) proposal, among other programs. But, in a reversal from the original Proposed Decision (Original PD), the CPUC decided…
Community Renewable Generators: Wholesale Power Sales Versus Net Energy Metering
By Jennifer Key
A Proposed Decision issued by Administrative Law Judges Debbie Chiv and Kelly A. Hyme of the Public Utilities Commission of California rejects a fundamental tenet of many community renewable (CR) programs. That tenet is that wholesale power sales can be “erased’ by couching cash payments to CR generators as “bill credits.” Although FERC has made…
NAESB’s Development of a Standard Distribution Services Contract for DER Aggregators Selling State-Jurisdictional “Distribution Services” to Distribution Owners Raises Issues Similar to Order No. 2222
By Jennifer Key
On February 7, 2024, at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), NAESB held a kick-off meeting for the development of a standard model contract to facilitate purchases by distribution owners of “distribution services” from DER aggregators. The idea is for NAESB to develop a standard contract that could be used by distribution…
Double-Provision Versus Double-Compensation of Ancillary Services Under PJM’s Order No. 2222 Compliance Filing
By Jennifer Key
Back in March of 2023, FERC issued a seemingly logical compliance order regarding one aspect of PJM’s Order No. 2222 compliance filing. This blog noted that “FERC acknowledged that DER owners in full retail NEM programs actually are compensated for ancillary services that they do not even provide and that paying them for ancillary services,…
Oh Dear! Does Whitetail Spell the End of Reactive Power Rates for DERs in PJM?
By Jennifer Key
PJM has long permitted generators to collect revenues for the provision of reactive power and voltage support (reactive power) under Schedule 2 of the PJM Tariff. Innumerable generating facilities have availed themselves of this opportunity. Nearly every such reactive revenue requirement case has settled. Although the vast majority of PJM transmission owners (TOs), whose ratepayers…
FERC’s PURPA Reform Rule Survives Judicial Review Intact, Subject to an Environmental Assessment, as the Majority of the Ninth Circuit Panel Continues to Embrace Chevron Deference
By Jennifer Key
We previously indicated that “[t]he March 8, 2022 SEIA v. FERC oral argument on FERC’s PURPA reform rule – Order No. 872 – resulted in a somewhat unexpected lesson on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).” The same can be said of the Ninth Circuit’s opinion on Order No. 872. Although the Final Rule was…
Is PURPA Relevant to Non-PUPRA State Procurement Mandates? Presumably Not, But There Is a Lesson To Be Learned From the Recent Allco Challenge
By Jennifer Key
As noted in the most recent blog post, a challenge by Allco Finance Limited (Allco) to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities’ (DPU) and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources’ (DOER) (Massachusetts Agencies) implementation of Massachusetts’ seven-year old legislation – An Act to Promote Energy Diversity – has no obvious connection to PURPA, yet…
Mandatory and Not So Mandatory Wholesale Purchases at State-Set Rates: Allco Leans In
By Jennifer Key
The easiest means for a state to provide a subsidy to a preferred generation/resource type or class is to mandate purchases from that class at state-mandated rates. The typical reaction of a FERC attorney to such a claim should be, well that approach is simply illegal; states cannot compel utility purchases outside the bounds of…
Key Takeaways from Orders on PJM and ISO-NE Order No. 2222 Compliance Filings
By Jennifer Key
FERC has issued its third and fourth orders on initial compliance attempts with Order No. 2222, covering PJM and ISO-NE. Many of the holdings reflected compliance policies similar to those adopted in the prior NYISO and CAISO orders (summarized previously Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4). This analysis…