By William Opalka

FERC granted a waiver to a New England power generator that missed the deadline for a payment to increase the plant’s offer for the next Forward Capacity Auction.

The commission majority said Northeast Energy Associates had made a “good faith” effort to comply with ISO-NE rules once it discovered an administrative oversight (ER15-1934).

NEA sought a 25-MW increase in the capacity of its Bellingham Energy Center in Massachusetts but failed to make a $50,000 interconnection deposit for FCA 10 by the March 3, 2015, deadline.

It discovered the error that day but was unable to make a bank transfer before the Federal Reserve’s 5:30 p.m. deadline. The funds were transferred the following morning.

“We find that NEA acted in good faith by submitting its interconnection deposit as soon as possible after it discovered the omission … [and] the request for waiver is limited in scope, because it allows a one-time, finite waiver of a procedural deadline under the narrow circumstances of this case,” the majority said.

FERC said the company filed an otherwise valid request to increase its capacity and the delay in submitting its interconnection deposit would not affect the qualification process for FCA 10.

ISO-NE had opposed the request for relief, saying that it would be unfair to other project sponsors who submitted invalid interconnection requests and did not seek a waiver. The RTO also said NEA had not shown the resource would be needed in the newly proposed Southeastern New England capacity zone that will be created in the reconfigured zones in the 2018-2019 capacity commitment period.

Commissioner Philip Moeller agreed with the RTO, saying granting the waiver violates FERC precedent and will create future headaches.

“Such requests will present the commission with an enormous challenge to ensure that all market participants are treated similarly after missing [a Forward Capacity Market] or other deadline,” he wrote.