By Rich Heidorn Jr.
FERC on Thursday declined to reconsider two orders upholding New England Power Pool’s gag rule but allowing an RTO Insider reporter to join the organization’s End User sector.
The commission dismissed NEPOOL’s request for rehearing of its January 2019 order rejecting a proposed change to the organization’s rules to prevent members of the press from joining (ER18-2208-002). The commission rebutted NEPOOL’s claim that FERC lacked jurisdiction, saying its membership rules “directly affect commission-jurisdictional rates” because members can vote on market rules.
Separately, the commission also denied Public Citizen’s request for rehearing of its April 2019 ruling rejecting RTO Insider’s complaint seeking to void NEPOOL’s policies prohibiting non-members, including the press and public, from attending stakeholder meetings (EL18-196-001). RTO Insider also had challenged a rule barring the press from reporting on what is said at the meetings.
Public Citizen said FERC erred in finding that press or public attendance at NEPOOL meetings does not impact votes and therefore cannot impact rates. It also disputed the commission’s opinion on the limits on its authority to regulate RTO governance matters.
“What Public Citizen refers to here are, at best, indirect effects on rates, whereas it is direct effects that create commission jurisdiction,” FERC said.
Commissioner Richard Glick filed a concurring opinion agreeing that the commission lacks jurisdiction but urging NEPOOL to change what he called its “misguided” rules.
“NEPOOL meetings address a broad range of important issues, including, among other things, the reliability of the electric grid, state policies for addressing climate change and the integration of new technologies into the resource mix. The public and, by extension, the press have a legitimate interest in how NEPOOL, the entity charged with administering ISO New England’s stakeholder process, is considering these matters public of interest,” Glick wrote.
“To paraphrase Justice Louis Brandeis, sunlight is the best disinfectant, and it is hard for me to understand how barring public and press scrutiny will further NEPOOL’s mission or, ultimately, its legitimacy as the forum for considering how ISO New England’s actions affect its stakeholders.”
Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s energy program, said the group will “petition the courts to review this terrible and misinformed FERC order.”
RTO Insider correspondent Michael Kuser, an electric ratepayer in Vermont, has been attending NEPOOL meetings since May 2019, after the group granted him membership. But he remains barred from reporting what is said at meetings and must quote only from posted documents and statements obtained outside the sessions.
