FERC late last month accepted a pair of SPP tariff revisions related to generator interconnection procedures and transmission planning.

The commission on Dec. 29 accepted SPP’s Order 845 compliance filing, effective Jan. 1. The 2018 order amended FERC’s pro forma large GI procedures and agreement, intended to improve the interconnection process and ensure it is just and reasonable (ER23-333).

SPP proposed expanding the transfer or use of surplus interconnection service beyond Order 845’s intent by allowing requests for surplus interconnection service (SIS) that require network upgrades in certain situations. Order 845 had required transmission providers to offer SIS to reduce costs for interconnection customers by increasing the use of existing interconnection facilities and network upgrades, rather than requiring new upgrades.

FERC said that by expanding the use of SIS, the RTO’s proposal will accomplish Order 845’s purpose. It found that the proposal would not “undermine” the order’s “open and transparent process for surplus interconnection service.”

“SPP’s proposal includes clear and objective criteria and protects against adverse effects on other interconnection customers in the SPP generator interconnection queue,” the commission said.

It also said the proposal would not result in “inappropriate queue jumping,” as its expansion of SIS is “limited by the requirement that there are no material adverse impacts on the cost or timing of any generator interconnection requests pending at the time the surplus interconnection service request is submitted.”

In a separate order issued the same day, FERC granted SPP’s waiver request for a six-month extension of its deadline to complete its 20-year assessment transmission planning study, from December 2022 to July 2023 (ER23-201).

The RTO said that when it began scoping the long-term assessment with stakeholders, it also began experiencing milestone delays for completing the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Integrated Transmission Planning (ITP) studies as the COVID-19 pandemic began.

Staff and members agreed in 2021 to pause the 20-year assessment and shift staff to the other planning studies to avoid further delays. SPP pointed out that the long-term study only looks for transmission solutions of 300 kV or higher and does not require approval to build transmission projects, as do the other ITP assessments. (See “Tx Planning Mitigation Gets OK,” SPP Markets and Operations Policy Committee Briefs: July 12-13, 2021.)

FERC said the waiver request met its criteria of being made in good faith, being limited in scope, addressing a concrete problem and not having undesirable consequences.

Co-ops File Complaint vs PSCo

In a complaint filed with FERC on Dec. 30, four Colorado cooperatives charged Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) with imprudently planning for and not supplying them with gas for electric generation during the severe February 2021 winter storm.

CORE Electric Cooperative, Grand Valley Rural Power Lines, Holy Cross Electric Association and Yampa Valley Electric Association said the Xcel Energy subsidiary failed to follow its own supply plans and wound up having to buy gas on the spot market at higher prices. They are asking the commission to return to them $6.9 million in fuel charges.

“PSCo’s failure to adhere to its monthly supply plan caused the company to purchase significantly more spot gas than called for in the monthly supply plan, actions a reasonable utility management would not take, constituting evidence of more than a ‘bare allegation of imprudence,’” the co-ops said.