FERC last week approved Basin Electric Power Cooperative’s request to make wholesale sales of energy, capacity and ancillary services at market-based rates in its Central and SPP regions, effective June 7, designating the cooperative as a Category 2 seller (ER20-1505).

The commission said Basin met its requirement that the co-op and its affiliates lack or have adequately mitigated horizontal and vertical market power.

Basin said it has turned over functional control of its Eastern Interconnection transmission facilities in the Central and SPP regions to MISO and SPP, respectively.

Before Nov. 1, 2019, Basin was exempt from commission jurisdiction because its member-owners were public power districts, electric cooperatives that have Rural Utilities Service debt, or electric cooperatives that sell less than 4 million MWh of power annually.

Basin said that it lost its exemption because of two of its owner-members themselves lost exempt status. Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association lost its status when it admitted nonexempt Mieco Inc., a subsidiary of subsidiary of Marubeni Corp., as a member. Upper Missouri G&T Electric Cooperative lost its exemption when it was determined that one of its members was selling more than 4 million MWh of electricity annually.

Basin told the commission it is seeking market-based rate authority only in the Central and SPP regions. It plans to file a second application for MBRA in the other markets in which it operates once it has a Tariff on file with FERC for them.

FERC denied Basin’s request for a waiver of the minimum 60-day notice requirement, ruling its MBRA would be effective June 7, 61 days after its filing. The commission noted its policy that, absent extraordinary circumstances, it does not grant waivers of notice requirements when an agreement for new service is filed on or after the day service has commenced. However, the commission said it would not require refunds for sales prior to June 7.

The commission also directed Basin to file electric quarterly reports.

FERC defines Category 2 sellers as those entities that aren’t Category 1 sellers, which are wholesale power marketers or wholesale power producers affiliated with 500 MW or less of generation in a region.

Empire Gets Waiver for Solar, Wind Projects

The commission also conditionally approved Empire District Electric’s request for a waiver to permit designated marketing employees to perform scheduling and related activities for certain Empire affiliates, effective May 1 (ER20-432).

The waiver allows marketing employees to perform services for two small solar power production facilities indirectly owned by affiliate Liberty Utilities and three wind-generating projects that will be indirectly owned by Empire.

FERC said its decision relies on “Empire’s representations that scheduling and related activities to maximize efficiencies, coordinate scheduling, perform forecasting and other sharing of information will be used to the benefit of captive customers.”

Liberty has acquired the 50-MW Luning Solar Energy Center and the 10-MW Turquoise Liberty Project, both in Nevada. Liberty is a direct subsidiary of California utility CalPeco, to which Luning makes power sales.

Empire has signed agreements to acquire indirect and controlling interests in three wind projects with a total capacity of approximately 600 MW: Neosho Ridge Wind, a 301-MW facility planned for Kansas; Kings Point Wind, a 150-MW resource that will be located in Missouri; and the approximately 150-MW North Fork Ridge Wind project, to be built in Missouri.

Empire told the commission that any market information will be shared “with the ultimate goal of maximizing the performance from the wind and solar projects, the benefits of which flow to the captive retail customers of CalPeco and Empire.”

The three wind projects will be included in Empire’s rate base upon state regulatory approval. The solar projects are in CalPeco’s rate base.