By Tom Kleckner and Rich Heidorn Jr.

FERC ruled last week that six utilities have partially complied with the requirements of Orders 845 and 845-A, directing the companies to address their shortcomings within 60 days.

The commission approved Orders 845 and 845-A to increase the transparency and speed of the generator interconnection process. (See FERC Order Seeks to Reduce Time, Uncertainty on Interconnections.)

The commission last week ruled in compliance filings by:

• Golden Spread Electric Cooperative (ER19-1900);
• Tampa Electric Co. (ER19-1920, ER19-1920-001);
• Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power (ER19-1924);
• Black Hills Colorado Electric (ER19-1925);
• Black Hills Power (ER19-1926); and
• Portland General Electric (ER19-1927; ER19-1927-001).

FERC found the utilities to have “generally” met the requirements of the orders. It evaluated the filings against 845’s and 845-A’s 10 reforms, grouped into three categories: improved certainty for interconnection customers; promoting more informed interconnection decisions; and process improvements.

The commission said the companies largely adopted its pro forma large generator interconnection procedures as is but failed to include some language that was required by Order 845.

Contingent Facilities

The commission also ordered several of the utilities, including Golden Spread, PGE, Black Hills Power and Cheyenne Light, to identify the “thresholds or criteria” they will use to identify “contingent” facilities — unbuilt interconnection facilities and network upgrades on which the interconnection request’s costs, timing and study findings are dependent.

“Without this information, an interconnection customer will not understand how [a utility] will evaluate potential contingent facilities to determine their relationship to an individual interconnection request,” FERC said.

It also said Golden Spread’s surplus interconnection service proposal omitted language providing that the original interconnection customer, the surplus interconnection service customer and the transmission provider will agree to surplus interconnection service before it begins.

The commission also ordered PGE to add a 30-day deadline for it to conduct any studies needed to review an interconnection customer’s request to incorporate certain technological advancements to its interconnection request prior to the execution of a facilities study agreement, without risking the loss of their queue positions. The commission said PGE’s proposal to use “reasonable efforts” to meet the deadline failed to comply with Order 845.

FERC also faulted Golden Spread, saying it did not justify its proposal to accept technological change requests until the system impact study ended, rather than before a facilities study agreement’s execution.