FERC on Wednesday denied rehearing of its June decision certifying the ninth Forward Capacity Auction results in ISO-NE, dealing another blow to a utility union’s claim that supply of the Brayton Point plant was illegally withheld to raise prices (EL15-1137).
The Utility Workers Union of America, which represents workers at the Massachusetts plant, in July asked FERC to void the auction results. (See Fourth Time the Charm? Brayton Point Union Again Challenges ISO-NE Auction.)
Energy Capital Partners, former owner of the 1,517-MW plant, did not offer it in capacity auctions for 2017/18 and 2018/19 after announcing the plant would close in 2017. Brayton Point was sold last year to Dynegy, which said it would close the plant as scheduled.
FERC previously rejected the union’s challenge to results of FCA 8 on similar grounds. FERC said a non-public investigation by its Office of Enforcement failed to uncover any evidence of wrongdoing.
“This conclusion remains valid for FCA 9,” FERC wrote.
The commission also reiterated its acceptance of the conclusion of ISO-NE’s Internal Market Monitor that no anti-competitive behavior existed before the auction.
FERC also rejected the union’s contention that the ISO-NE Tariff requires a determination that a unit is uneconomic before it is allowed to retire.
“The Tariff contains no provision requiring a resource to demonstrate that it is uneconomic before it is allowed to retire, and UWUA does not point to any such provision. There is no test as to whether the unit can economically provide capacity, nor is there a mechanism by which ISO-NE can compel the resource to continue operating under any circumstances,” the commission wrote.
— William Opalka