Overview
On December 13, 2024, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”), filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“Commission”) a modification to Part VII of its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“Tariff”), adding provisions to enable a one-time reliability-based expansion of the eligibility criteria for Transition Cycle #2 to allow a limited number of additional resources to enter
On September 6, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) issued an order finding that the presence of a non-independent director, i.e., one who is affiliated with an investor, on the board of directors of a public utility or its upstream holding company creates an affiliation between the sponsor and the investor
CAISO’s Interconnection Process Enhancements proposal faces protests from independent power producers, clean energy organizations, and renewable energy developers at FERC. Challengers claim that CAISO’s scoring criteria provide undue influence to load-serving entities (LSEs) and may violate principles of open access.
CAISO’s proposal addresses the backlog in its interconnection queue by prioritizing projects in zones with
On May 13, 2024, at a special transmission reform meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) issued Order No. 1920 “Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation” (Final Rule).[1] The Final Rule builds upon Order No. 888, Order No. 890, and Order No. 1000, which developed
Summary
On March 29, 2024, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) released the Track 2 final proposal for its Interconnection Process Enhancements (IPE) initiative. The proposed changes in the IPE proposal aim to address the “unprecedented and unsustainable interconnection request volumes” in the CAISO. CAISO proposes to adopt a zonal approach that prioritizes project interconnection in areas with existing or planned transmission capacity, to cap the number of projects permitted to proceed into the study process at 150% of the available and planned transmission capacity in specific zones, and adopt scoring criteria for eligibility and prioritization in the interconnection study process. Continue Reading CAISO Releases Interconnection Process Enhancements Final Proposal
At the July 27, 2023, Open Meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued long-awaited Order No. 2023, the Final Rule on Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements in Docket No. RM22-14-000. The rulemaking arose from the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost
7/8/2024 Update: The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated the D.C. Circuit’s order, discussed below. The D.C. Circuit applied Chevron deference in affirming FERC’s decision in the proceeding below. As a result, the U.S. Supreme Court has vacated and remanded back to the D.C. Circuit to reconsider the case in light of Chevron being overturned.
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At its June 16, 2022, open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements, 179 FERC ¶ 61,194 (2022), proposing reforms to the Commission’s standard generator interconnection procedures and agreements. The goal of the NOPR is to reduce queue
FERC issued two notable orders this spring in Irradiant Partners, LP (Docket No. EL22-8-000) and Dalreed Solar (Docket No. QF20-1037-002) that provide further guidance on qualifying facility (QF) certifications. Here are the key takeaways:
On November 18, 2021, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comments on reactive power capability compensation and market design. (Link to NOI here). Reactive power is a critical component of the bulk electric system. Almost all bulk electric power is generated, transported, and consumed in AC networks. These AC systems consume both real and reactive power. Reactive power supports the voltages necessary for system reliability to allow the supply of real power from generation to load. All balancing authorities must procure enough sources of reactive power to safely manage the grid and generator interconnection agreements contain provisions requiring generators to operate within certain reactive power limits. Reactive power is an ancillary service and costs are recovered separately from the cost of standard transmission service.
Continue Reading Reactive Power Compensation for Renewable Generators – On the Chopping Block?