On April 25, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (Circuit Court) dismissed petitions for review by PáTu Wind Farm (PáTu) and Portland General Electric Company (PGE) appealing Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders requiring PGE to purchase the full net output delivered by PáTu and rejecting PáTu’s request that PGE accept the power through specific transmission arrangements called dynamic transfer. [Read more…]
FERC Protects QFs in the Interconnection Process
December 20, 2016 By
On December 15, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a declaratory order finding that the Montana Public Service Commission’s (Montana Commission) legally enforceable obligation standard is inconsistent with the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) and FERC’s PURPA regulations. FERC rejected the Montana Commission’s requirement that that a qualifying facility (QF) complete a facilities study or an interconnection agreement as a predicate for a legally enforceable obligation is contrary to PURPA. [Read more…]
Ninth Circuit Rejects Challenge to FERC Decisions on BPA Oversupply
August 18, 2015 By
On August 10, 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Ninth Circuit) rejected a challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) decisions finding that Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) policies discriminated against wind generators. The Ninth Circuit did not address the merits of the appeal, but found that the BPA’s wholesale preference customers did not have statutory standing to challenge FERC’s decision. [Read more…]
FERC Sides with Oregon Wind Farm Against PGE
February 6, 2015 By
On January 22, 2015, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order that granted in part and dismissed in part a complaint filed by PáTu Wind Farm (PáTu) against Portland General Electric Company (PGE). FERC agreed with PaTu’s essential complaint that PGE may not refuse to accept PáTu’s net electric energy output that is delivered to PGE’s system. FERC also: 1) dismissed PáTu’s arguments that PGE violated FERC’s standards of conduct; and 2) concluded that PáTu should seek monetary reparations in court or before the Oregon Public Utility Commission (Oregon Commission) rather than FERC itself. [Read more…]
FERC Approves BPA Oversupply Management Protocol and Rates
November 2, 2014 By
On October 16, 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued two orders accepting Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) controversial oversupply management protocol and oversupply rates. FERC accepted BPA’s filings as temporary solutions to address the problem of high levels of generation that exceeded the available end use consumer loads on BPA’s system. This is called “oversupply” because BPA has too much generation. FERC found that BPA’s policy to displace and compensate wind generators during oversupply events is equitable and results in comparability in the provision of transmission service. [Read more…]
