By Christen Smith

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — PJM anticipates filing a GreenHat Energy settlement on Oct. 9 that staff says will avoid costly legal proceedings, signaling a possible end to months of uncertainty and confusion for stakeholders in the wake of the company’s massive default on 890 million MWh of financial transmission rights.

Jen Tribulski, PJM’s associate general counsel, told the Market Implementation Committee on Wednesday a meeting is planned for mid-October for stakeholders unable to participate in negotiations to have a chance to discuss the settlement terms before filing comments with FERC. (See FERC Denies Shell, ODEC Seat at GreenHat Settlement Table.)

“Based on all the feedback we’ve gotten so far, we think the settlement will be unopposed by all parties,” she said. “We think the settlement will help avoid litigation and the unintended costs and uncertainties that would extend from litigation.”

In June, FERC gave PJM stakeholders just 90 days to settle all disputes about how to best liquidate FTRs left over from the default before kicking off a paper hearing on the RTO’s request to clarify a previous ruling related to the debacle (ER18-2068). (See FERC: PJM Settle Disputes Before GreenHat Hearing.) On Monday, PJM confirmed a settlement in principle had been reached but declined to give further details.

It’s unclear how much the agreement will cost members, though PJM spokesperson Susan Buehler previously told RTO Insider that estimates had now dropped below $200 million — a far cry from the anticipated $430 million expense stakeholders would have faced if forced to unwind five months of GreenHat settlements as initially ordered in FERC’s waiver denial in January. (See FERC Orders PJM to Unwind GreenHat Settlements.)