By Tom Kleckner

FERC on Monday clarified that non-transmission owning members of SPP are still subject to a $50,000 deposit for if they withdraw from the RTO, rejecting environmental organizations’ complaint that the deposit constitutes a barrier to membership (EL19-11).

The organizations — Advanced Power Alliance (APA), Clean Grid Alliance, Climate + Energy Project, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Southern Renewable Energy Association, Sustainable FERC Project and Western Resource Advocates — filed a request for clarification in early February following FERC’s rejection of SPP’s request for rehearing of the commission’s decision to end the RTO’s exit fee for non-transmission owners. They objected to what they called the commission’s “reinstatement” of the $50,000 deposit in its December order. (See FERC Denies Rehearing of SPP Exit Fee Decision.)

FERC reminded the groups that it had ruled that non-TOs “should only be exempt from paying a share of SPP’s long-term financial obligations, rather than all existing obligations associated with membership withdrawal.” The deposit represents the costs SPP would incur to process a member’s withdrawal from the RTO, while the fee represents the sum of the withdrawing member’s share of SPP’s outstanding long-term financial obligations and its obligations at the time of withdrawal, including any unpaid dues or assessments.

The commission also rejected their arguments that the deposit requirement represents a barrier to membership and is unjust and unreasonable. FERC also said the groups missed the 30-day deadline following a commission decision to file a request for rehearing and ruled their motion as a late-filed request.

APA and the American Wind Energy Association filed the initial successful complaint that resulted in FERC last April ordering SPP to end charging an exit fee for members that are not TOs or load-serving entities. (See FERC Tells SPP to End Exit Fee for Non-TOs.) SPP had estimated the fee could amount to as much as $630,000 for entities without load.

In December, FERC rejected a rehearing request by SPP and its LSEs, along with the RTO’s proposal to lower the exit fee to $100,000. It ordered the grid operator to submit another proposal “that adequately explains” why the exit fee for non-TOs is just and reasonable and “not a barrier to membership … and not excessive as a means of ensuring stability in membership and members’ financial commitment.”