RENSSELAER, N.Y. — NYISO on Tuesday shared its first impressions of FERC Order 2023 with stakeholders in a high-level overview of the landmark ruling, though it remained reluctant to delve too deeply into how it might impact its work (RM22-14).
Thinh Nguyen, NYISO senior manager of interconnection projects, told members of the Transmission Planning Advisory Subcommittee that “we are still digesting all of this information from FERC but plan on coming back to the next TPAS or sooner to discuss this order in more detail.”
FERC’s July 27 order seeks to unclog backlogged generator interconnection queues by imposing financial penalties on developers whose projects fail to complete studies on time. (See FERC Updates Interconnection Queue Process with Order 2023 and FERC Interconnection Rule Sets Penalties, Ends ‘Reasonable Efforts’ Standard.)
Stakeholders praised NYISO for how quickly it developed its presentation and acknowledged that the ISO was unlikely to discuss the order in detail, given the timing. But they still pressed staff for as much information as possible during the meeting.
Anthony Abate, lead energy market adviser for the New York Power Authority, asked how FERC’s prescriptions will impact the ISO’s ongoing work to improve its queue. (See NYISO Stakeholders Still Questioning Interconnection Queue Proposal.)
“We’re still sifting through this … 1,400-plus page document … but the order is not preventing ISOs or RTOs from reforming their interconnection process procedures, so I think that we could use some of FERC’s suggestions, though we haven’t mapped all this out yet,” Nguyen responded.
Howard Fromer, who represents Bayonne Energy Center, asked how projects currently in the queue would be affected by the order.
Nguyen said “business will continue on as is,” with studies underway continuing under the current tariff, but promised to come back with more information. The next TPAS meeting is scheduled for Aug. 21.
Compliance filings are due within 90 days of the rule’s publication in the Federal Register. In the order, FERC said, “We recognize that many transmission providers have adopted or are in the process of adopting similar reforms to those adopted in this final rule. We do not intend to disrupt these ongoing transition processes or stifle further innovation. On compliance, transmission providers can propose deviations from the requirements adopted in this final rule — including deviations seeking to minimize interference with ongoing transition plans — and demonstrate how those deviations satisfy the standards discussed above, which the commission will consider on a case-by-case basis.”
