By Rich Heidorn Jr.
FERC clarified Tuesday that rehearing requests on its April 19 order revising its pro forma large generator interconnection procedures did not affect transmission operators’ compliance obligations spelled out in the order (RM17-8-002).
Order 845, which set new rules to increase the transparency and timeliness of the interconnection process, took effect July 23, 75 days after its publication in the Federal Register. (See FERC Order Seeks to Reduce Time, Uncertainty on Interconnections.)
The order required transmission providers to submit compliance filings adopting the rule’s requirements as revisions to their large generator interconnection procedures (LGIP) and large generator interconnection agreements (LGIA) within 90 days of the publication.
On June 18, however, the commission issued a procedural order giving itself more time to consider about 20 rehearing requests on the rulemaking. On Oct. 3, the Office of the Secretary issued a notice granting a motion by the Edison Electric Institute to delay the compliance filings until 90 days after the commission rules on rehearing.
The American Wind Energy Association challenged the secretary’s notice, arguing that extending the deadline for compliance filings was a departure from commission precedent that rehearing requests do not stay commission orders. AWEA said the extension notice effectively stays Order 845 “indefinitely until a rehearing request is issued.”
But the commission said the extension notice “does not change or stay Order No. 845’s effective date, but simply extends the date that compliance filings are due.”
Order 845 adopted all but four of 14 potential rule changes in the commission’s December 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking revising the pro forma LGIP and LGIA. The rulemaking, which was prompted by AWEA’s complaint over backlogs in interconnection queues, applies to generators larger than 20 MW.
