The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied a pair of petitions by the Rhode Island-based company Green Development over FERC’s approval of transmission charges connected to a proposed solar project. The court determined that Green Development’s four main issues with FERC’s approval lacked merit.

Green Development is the developer of four solar projects totaling about 40 MW in Rhode Island. The company requested to connect the projects to the local distribution system, owned and operated by Narragansett Electric Co., a former subsidiary of National Grid now owned by PPL Electric Utilities under the name Rhode Island Energy.

Narragansett and New England Power, also a subsidiary of National Grid, determined the solar project would require significant upgrades to the distribution and transmission systems, including a new substation, costing about $18 million, with the costs ultimately passed down to Green Development.

FERC denied the bulk of Green Development’s arguments opposed to this cost allocation in orders issued in September 2021 and February 2022. The commission upheld its findings of both orders upon rehearing (EL21-47 and ER22-707).

Green Development’s petition to the D.C. Circuit, argued in March of this year, alleged FERC mischaracterized some of the company’s arguments, failed to justify its jurisdiction over the upgrades, misinterpreted the definition of “direct assignment facilities” in the ISO-NE tariff and that the RTO and New England Power failed to file a new application for transmission service in accordance with the tariff.

In its ruling on Friday, the D.C. Circuit sided with FERC, rejecting all four of these clams.

“Each of Green Development’s four grounds for vacatur lacks merit. Accordingly, we deny the petitions for review,” wrote Circuit Judge Karen L. Henderson.

Green Development declined to comment on the ruling.