By Tom Kleckner

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week denied a request by Ameren that its native load in the “Bootheel” region of southeastern Missouri be considered part of MISO’s Ameren Missouri transmission pricing zone rather than the Entergy Arkansas zone.

The commission rejected Ameren’s request for a declaratory order (EL14-46).

FERC said while sections of a 2004 service agreement exempted Ameren Missouri from MISO charges for the bundled retail load, the agreement also requires Ameren to pay for services it does not provide itself, such as the transmission service provided by Entergy Arkansas. The commission said that “a fundamental tenet of contract interpretation is that a contract provision should be interpreted … as consistent with the contract as a whole.”

The Bootheel load refers to Ameren Missouri’s native load customers in the corner of the state south of St. Louis. Until 1991, that load was served by Entergy Arkansas’ predecessor, Arkansas Power & Light. In 1991, APL sold its distribution system serving retail customers in Missouri to Ameren but retained its transmission facilities.

As a result, the Bootheel load is connected to Entergy Arkansas’ transmission facilities in Missouri and has no direct interconnection to the Ameren Missouri grid.

Ameren Missouri, which joined MISO in 2004, served that load until December 2013 with network integration transmission service from Entergy Arkansas. A grandfathered agreement between the two companies was in effect until 2009, when a new agreement was entered.

FERC was not persuaded by Ameren’s argument that denying its petition would take jurisdiction over the transmission component of its bundled retail load from the Missouri Public Service Commission. “The Missouri commission did not have the ability to set the rate for transmission service to the Bootheel load … prior to Entergy Arkansas’ integration into MISO [in 2013], and Entergy Arkansas’ integration into MISO does not change that.”

In a statement, Ameren said, “While Ameren Missouri is disappointed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision, we have decided to accept the decision.”