On March 9, 2018, a divided FERC approved the Competitive Auctions with Sponsored Policy Resources (“CASPR”) proposal submitted by the ISO New England Inc. (“ISO-NE”). Developed through an extensive stakeholder process that began in 2016, CASPR was promoted by ISO-NE as a mechanism to integrate out-of-market state resource policies that might otherwise suppress capacity market prices in ISO-NE’s capacity market. A divided FERC approved the proposal as a just and reasonable accommodation of state policies, with Commissioner Powelson dissenting, arguing that the proposal dilutes market signals and “threatens the viability” of ISO-NE’s capacity market. Commissioners LaFleur and Glick concurred with the outcome, but criticized the order’s guidance on adapting markets to state energy policies, and reliance on minimum offer pricing rules (“MOPRs”) as the “standard solution” to achieve that end. Continue reading →

In a decision issued on March 6, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit” or the court) upheld a series of FERC orders declining to direct Entergy Services Inc. (“Entergy”) to pay refunds for previously misallocated capacity costs. The D.C. Circuit found that FERC adequately explained its reasoning and clarified that—contrary to previous assertions—the Commission has no general policy of ordering refunds in cases involving flawed rate design, and that it had adequately explained that such a refund order would be inequitable in this instance. Continue reading →

On February 14, 2018, FERC accepted a suite of system functionality enhancements to the Energy Imbalance Market (“EIM”) proposed by the California Independent System Operator Corporation (“CAISO”).  The enhancements, which became effective the following day, included automated matching of import/export schedule changes between resources inside and outside the EIM, as well as allowing EIM entities to use CAISO’s settlement process to address base energy transfer differences.  As CAISO explained in its proposal, the requested enhancements will improve the EIM overall, as well as facilitate the entrance of Powerex Corp. and Idaho Power Company into the market on April 4, 2018. Continue reading →