By Tom Kleckner
FERC last week denied the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s request for clarification on one matter related to a sprawling Entergy-related case before the federal commission.
The PSC was seeking to learn what specific proceeding would determine the return on equity that would apply to amended power purchase agreements that were the subject of an August 2016 order (ER16-1251). It requested the clarification following a January 2017 FERC order denying its request for a rehearing of the 2016 ruling. FERC had said the proceeding regarding the amended PPAs was not the right forum for determining the appropriate ROEs to be applied under a replacement tariff, finding the issues raised by Louisiana regulators to be outside its scope.
The PSC said “that if the appropriate ROE … is outside the scope of the instant proceeding, it does not appear the ROE will be addressed in any [FERC] proceeding.”
In its Jan. 18 ruling, FERC told the PSC it had explained in the 2016 order that issues concerning the application of ROE under Entergy’s unit power sales and PPAs are pending in the massive ER13-1508 docket. FERC also noted that it had already dismissed concerns by the PSC about applying a generic ROE to the amended PPAs.
FERC last week also approved an uncontested partial settlement related to adjustments in MISO Tariff transmission formula rate templates for Entergy’s operating companies (ER17-2579), directing the company to file a revised rate template in eTariff and terminating four related dockets (ER17-2579, ER16-1528, ER15-1453 and ER15-1436).
Entergy Services had objected to FERC trial staff’s October 2017 recommendation that it file a revised rate template for Entergy Gulf States Louisiana, but a settlement judge in November certified the partial settlement as uncontested.
The settlement memorializes adjustments to three items in the Entergy operating companies’ rate templates: excess accumulated deferred income taxes; certain permanent differences in income taxes; and the Entergy operating companies’ post-retirement benefit costs other than pensions for 2014 and 2015.
