FERC said last week it remains unconvinced that MISO’s plan to integrate qualifying facilities into Entergy’s footprint would violate Occidental Chemical’s rights under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act, denying the company’s request for rehearing of its April order (EL13-41-001).

MISO’s QF plan, implemented when Entergy first joined the RTO, included two options for QF participation, a “hybrid” option and a behind-the-meter option. Occidental claimed the commission failed to address its argument that QFs participating under the behind-the-meter option would have to give up their PURPA rights. Much of FERC’s original order focused on Occidental’s arguments against the hybrid option. (See FERC Denies Occidental’s PURPA Complaints.)

In its original order, “the commission discussed … why requiring a behind-the-meter QF to be reflected in MISO’s commercial model as an Entergy asset for purposes of MISO market participation does not unduly discriminate against QFs,” FERC said. “Occidental has not elaborated why the commission erred in its rejection of Occidental’s arguments that the behind-the-meter option is unduly discriminatory.”

FERC concluded that QFs “could participate in the MISO market while continuing to exercise their rights pursuant to PURPA, and that MISO does not need to modify its Tariff.”

— Amanda Durish Cook