By Rory Sweeney

FERC reassured LS Power last week that the company’s plan to base some of its interstate administrative and operational activities in its Austin, Texas, office won’t trigger commission jurisdiction over ERCOT and its market participants (EL16-46).

New York-based LS Power, which maintains infrastructure across the country, is developing the Cross Texas high-voltage line connecting wind farms in the Texas Panhandle to the ERCOT grid.

Cross Texas’ primary and backup control centers are in Austin, and LS Power wants to use those facilities to monitor, operate and control similar transmission infrastructure outside of Texas. But first, the company wanted to confirm the administrative work across state borders wouldn’t require FERC’s involvement.

ERCOT doesn’t fall under FERC supervision through the Federal Power Act, and it has been very careful to maintain that autonomy.

LS Power argued that the activities of its Austin-based employees “will not result in any change to the power flows into or out of ERCOT or mean that electric energy is being sold or transmitted in interstate commerce.” Therefore, the terms of ERCOT’s autonomy should remain intact, they argued.

FERC agreed.

“ERCOT utilities are not generally subject to commission jurisdiction under the FPA because their facilities are neither used for transmission nor for sales of electric energy in interstate commerce (except as a result of interconnection and wheeling service provided pursuant to orders under Sections 210 and 211 of the FPA),” the commission said.

“Petitioners’ employees providing control center services does not change that fact; their actions will not involve the flow of electric energy, or the commingling of electric energy, between ERCOT and the rest of the continental United States, nor will they involve sales of electric energy at wholesale between ERCOT and the rest of the continental United States.”