PJM last week sent members directions on how to file claims against the $5 million fund established in the GreenHat Energy settlement just days after FERC accepted the terms of the agreement.

In October, PJM filed its plan with the commission to pay two trading firms $12.5 million to settle claims of economic harm that resulted from the RTO’s decision to not liquidate GreenHat’s entire 890 million MWh portfolio of financial transmission rights during the 2018/19 planning period (ER18-2068).

After the company defaulted in June 2018, PJM reran only the July FTR auction — a decision the RTO says kept costs to members down and avoided a cascade of market violations that would increase uncertainty for years to come. (See PJM to Pay $12.5 million to Settle GreenHat Dispute.)

As part of the settlement, members agreed to fund a separate account that would pay out additional claims if PJM’s analysis verified those market participants also suffered economic harm. If PJM discovers instead that a claimant benefited from prior actions, it will owe a fee equal to 50% of the amount of the benefit. The RTO said in October that it doesn’t expect additional claims, based on the limited protest filings it received during the proceeding.

In its email to members Thursday, PJM directed potential claimants to submit an email to FTRPayeeFund@pjm.com with “Payee Fund Claim” in the subject with the name of the market participant in the body of the email on or before Feb. 1. Claimants should not include a dollar amount for which the market participant was harmed.

PJM said it will notify claimants by Feb. 10 of the harm or benefit for the market participant and what amount will be credited or charged, respectively, to its monthly billing statement following the notification.

— Christen Smith