By Rich Heidorn Jr.

FERC on Thursday issued a flurry of orders delegating authority and waiving requirements in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

The commission issued:

• A policy statement saying it will “expeditiously review and act on requests for relief” to ensure the business continuity of regulated entities’ energy infrastructure (PL20-5).
• An order delegating authority to the director of the Office of Energy Market Regulation (OEMR), or the director’s designee, “to take action on uncontested requests for waiver of certain regulatory obligations to address needs resulting from steps entities have taken to meet the emergency conditions” (AD20-13). The delegation will be effective until June 1.
• An order delegating authority to the director of the Office of Energy Policy and Innovation, or the director’s designee, to act on requests for extension of filing deadlines or waivers of the requirements of FERC Form 552 (Annual Report of Natural Gas Transactions) and FERC-730 (Report of Transmission Investment Activity). This authority was previously delegated to the director of the Office of Enforcement (RM20-13).
• An order extending until Oct. 20 the deadlines for RTOs and ISOs to post monthly reports that would have been due between April and September on uplift and operator-initiated commitments (RM17-2). (See FERC Orders RTOs to Shine Light on Uplift Data.)
• An order granting a blanket waiver through Sept. 1 of requirements to hold meetings in-person and obtain notarized documents in any tariff, rate schedule, service agreement or contract subject to the commission’s jurisdiction under the Federal Power Act, the Natural Gas Act or the Interstate Commerce Act (EL20-37). NYISO had requested relief from the notary requirements on March 27 (ER20-1419).

FERC has already granted PJM’s request for a waiver of generator interconnection-related deadlines (ER20-1392).

The commission said its delegation to OEMR will allow more efficient action on uncontested waiver requests. “The need for efficient processing and action is particularly important given the emergency conditions related to COVID-19, as entities may need to seek waiver of various requirements with which they are unable to comply due to the extraordinary circumstances,” the commission said.

It said the waiver “does not permit violations of the filed rate doctrine and the rule against retroactive ratemaking, even in uncontested cases. If such questions arise, they will be considered by the commission.”

The policy statement noted that the entities subject to FERC regulation “have had to take unprecedented actions in response to the emergency conditions, including directing staff to work remotely for an extended period, which may disrupt, complicate or otherwise change their normal course of business operations.”

“We will give our highest priority to processing filings made for the purpose of assuring the business continuity of regulated entities’ energy infrastructure during this extraordinary time,” the commission continued. “We view the reliability and security of our nation’s vital energy infrastructure as critical to meeting the energy requirements essential to the American people.”