FERC Staff Presents 2011 State of the Markets
On April 19, 2012, FERC’s Office of Enforcement presented its 2011 State of the Markets report at FERC’s monthly meeting. The State of the Markets report is an annual presentation of staff’s assessment of natural gas, electric, and other energy markets. The report focused on natural gas production, natural gas storage inventories, natural gas prices, liquid natural gas (“LNG”) export proposals, power prices, gas and electric demand, and gas-fired generators. [Read more →]
April 24, 2012 Comments Off
FERC Issues Notice of Inquiry on Open Access and Priority Rights on Interconnection Facilities
On April 19, 2012, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) on the open access and priority rights associated with capacity on interconnection facilities. The NOI is a direct result of a March 2011 technical conference. At the conference, several commenters stated that radial lines used to connect generation facilities to the transmission grid are not easily classified as “generation” or “transmission,” and may evade open access requirements. Some parties refer to these facilities as “generator lead lines,” but FERC is opting to use the term “interconnection facilities.” [Read more →]
April 24, 2012 Comments Off
PJM Proposes Changes to Wind Resource Compensation, Market Monitor Disagrees
On April 2, 2012, PJM made a filing with FERC proposing to change its Operating Agreement in an effort to align compensation provided to wind generators for “lost opportunity costs” with the compensation currently offered to conventional generating resources. [Read more →]
April 11, 2012 Comments Off
FERC Conditionally Approves MISO’s Queue Reform
On March 30, 2012, FERC conditionally approved a proposal from the Midwest Independent System Operator (“MISO”) to revise its interconnection queue procedures. The new procedures are designed to address backlogs and late-stage terminations of generation interconnection agreements. FERC approved the new procedures to take effect on January 1, 2012. [Read more →]
April 11, 2012 Comments Off
FERC Releases Order on PJM Cost Allocation
On March 30, 2012, FERC issued an order on remand from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (“7th Circuit”) regarding the appropriate cost allocation methodology for large transmission projects in the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) region. FERC reaffirmed its decision to approve PJM’s postage stamp rate that socialized the cost of high-voltage projects to the entire RTO. [Read more →]
April 11, 2012 Comments Off
