On May 24, 2018, FERC denied a complaint filed by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (“NJBPU”) alleging unjust and unreasonable cost allocations for the Bergen-Linden Corridor transmission project (“the Project”) within the PJM Interconnection L.L.C. (“PJM”) footprint. FERC rejected NJBPU’s claims that, among other alleged problems, PJM’s implementation of certain provisions in its tariff and the Joint Operating Agreement (“JOA”) with the New York Independent System Operator, Inc. (“NYISO”) unfairly insulated New York ratepayers from costs associated with the Project, at the expense of New Jersey ratepayers and in violation of FERC’s Order No. 1000.   Continue reading →

On May 17, 2018, FERC issued two orders denying requests for rehearing regarding dual rejections of certain Southwest Power Pool, Inc (“SPP”) Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”) proposals that, as FERC found, provided Auction Revenue Rights (“ARRs”) and Long-term Congestion Rights (“LTCRs”) on an unjust and unreasonable basis. FERC’s previous orders, both issued on October 19, 2017, found that SPP was impermissibly providing ARRs and LTCRs for network service subject to “redispatch” (or, curtailment), on the same basis as network service not subject to redispatch. See October 25, 2017 edition of the WER. In these latest orders, FERC rejected claims that, among other things, FERC’s October 19, 2017 orders had violated the contract rights of eligible network customers and that they constituted unlawful retroactive agency action. Continue reading →