FERC on Thursday denied Bear Swamp Power’s request for a waiver of the requirement to include certain affiliate information in its market-based rate filings (ER17-603).

Bear Swamp, which is controlled by Brookfield Renewable Energy Group, operates the 600-MW Bear Swamp Pumped Storage Development and the 10-MW Fife Brook Development on the Deerfield River in northwestern Massachusetts.

In December 2016, the company filed a notice of change in status, reporting that Nova Scotia-based Emera had acquired an indirect 50% ownership in the company. Bear Swamp requested a waiver of the requirement to include Emera generation and transmission assets in its change-in-status notice and future market-based rate filings.

The company argued that Emera’s affiliates should not be included in its horizontal market power analysis and other filings because its generation capacity is fully attributed to Brookfield, and Brookfield is not privy to Emera’s acquisition activities. Emera affiliates include Emera Maine and Tampa Electric.

“Bear Swamp has not presented any compelling reason for its request,” the commission said in its Jan. 18 order. “The facts that Brookfield and its affiliates are not privy to the acquisition activities of Emera and its affiliates, and that a Brookfield affiliate controls day-to-day operations of Bear Swamp’s generation facility, [do] not affect the affiliate relationship between Emera and Bear Swamp.”

The commission directed the company to submit an updated market power analysis including Emera affiliates within 30 days.

Under FERC’s market-based rate regulations, any company controlling 10% or more of another company is considered an affiliate.

— Michael Kuser