By William Opalka
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has for the third time refused to take up a Rhode Island citizen’s allegations that an offshore wind power contract is illegal (EL15-61).
FERC declined without comment to refer the contract between Deepwater Wind and National Grid to its Office of Enforcement.
Benjamin Riggs Jr. claimed the 20-year power purchase agreement violated the Federal Power Act and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution. He sought an enforcement action against the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act for violating the “commercially reasonable” provisions of that law.
Deepwater is constructing a 30-MW offshore wind farm near Block Island. The company and National Grid signed a contract that cost $500 million more than the avoided costs of conventional generation over the project’s life, which regulators approved in 2010. The commission had initially rejected an agreement, but the companies amended the contract after the state passed legislation to promote the wind farm as a clean energy resource and as an economic development project.
The final permit, from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was issued last year and the project is now under construction. It would be the first offshore wind farm in the U.S.
National Grid argued that Riggs did not have standing to bring the action before FERC under the various statutes that he cited.
Riggs had filed complaints in 2011 and 2012 with the same allegations that also failed (EL12-16, EL12-100). He tried again in April because he said a recent Supreme Court decision, which he did not name, “suggests that any possible administrative remedy should be explored before resorting to the courts.”
The courts appear to be his only option.
“Our decision not to initiate an enforcement action means that Mr. Riggs may himself bring an enforcement action against the Rhode Island commission in the appropriate court,” FERC wrote.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court rejected a ratepayer challenge in 2012.