FERC on Friday rejected Gladstone New Energy’s complaint that Tri-State Generation and Transmission’s generator interconnection procedures caused the renewable developer to lose its queue position and be assigned network upgrade costs by an “inappropriate” restudy (EL19-97).

The proceeding stemmed from Gladstone’s 2017 interconnection request for a 78-MW wind facility in New Mexico. Tri-State’s final system impact study in 2018 pinned the costs for interconnection facilities and network upgrades at $31.7 million, requiring Gladstone to provide a $7.9 million security deposit.

In April 2018, Gladstone asked Tri-State that its interconnection request be placed into deferral over concerns with the study’s report. The project remained in deferral until September 2019, when Tri-State approved Gladstone’s request to proceed out of deferral. In November, under Gladstone’s protest, Tri-State conducted a system impact restudy. Tri-State filed a facilities study agreement in March, and FERC accepted it, with Gladstone again protesting.

FERC rejected Gladstone’s argument that Tri-State “improperly” restudied the project, saying the restudy and the inclusion of a higher-queued project in its allocated costs were just and reasonable.

Gladstone argued that Tri-State’s interconnection procedures were outdated and did not conform with FERC’s large generator interconnection procedures (LGIP). But the commission said events prior to Sept. 3, 2019, were outside of its jurisdiction. Tri-State only became FERC jurisdictional on that date. (See “Ruling Permits Tri-State to Become FERC Jurisdictional,” SPP FERC Briefs: Week of March 16, 2020.)

The commission also noted that it accepted Tri-State’s proposed LGIP in March, finding them consistent with the pre-jurisdictional procedures that provide projects exiting deferral to be subject to restudy, unless Tri-State deems such analysis unnecessary. FERC said that Gladstone was aware that, as it entered deferral, a restudy was possible once it exited.