FERC rejected a request to rehear its order blocking Tariff changes that would have exempted PJM capacity resources from nonperformance charges under certain circumstances.

The commission’s Dec. 22 order said the challenge by the PJM Utilities Coalition — American Electric Power; Buckeye Power; Dayton Power and Light; Duke Energy Kentucky; East Kentucky Power Cooperative; and Virginia Electric and Power — “does not offer any information or arguments that are new to this proceeding and primarily reiterates arguments advanced in PJM’s prior pleading” (ER16-1336-001).

The changes, approved by stakeholders following months of debate, would have exempted a capacity resource from penalties if it was following PJM’s dispatch instructions and operating at an acceptable ramp rate during periods of high load. The changes were designed to discourage generators from self-scheduling prior to a performance assessment hour in order to avoid nonperformance charges — behavior that PJM said would pose operational challenges and reliability risks.

The commission rejected the change in May, saying PJM had not shown that its operational concerns justified the proposal, which it said undercut Capacity Performance rules designed to ensure resources are available during a crisis. (See FERC Rejects Ramp Rate Exception in PJM Capacity Rules.)

The commission reiterated its conclusion in rejecting rehearing, saying “the existing incentives in the threat of a nonperformance charge and risk of losses due to self-scheduling were robust enough for resource owners to both properly maintain their units and follow PJM dispatch.”

– Rich Heidorn Jr.