FERC approved an SPP waiver request that allows the RTO to forego performing standalone evaluations in favor of a time-saving cluster scenario for three generator interconnection study groups (ER18-421).

The RTO asked for a limited waiver of its Tariff to enable it to expedite interconnection study requests in its Definitive Interconnection System Impact Study (DISIS) queue, which evaluates the effect of proposed generators on transmission system reliability. The request was limited to three DISIS clusters: DISIS-2016-002, DISIS-2017-001 and DISIS-2017-002.

SPP said the standalone scenario has proven costly, requiring significant time and resources to perform while providing minimal value to interconnection customers. The RTO noted standalone results are informational and not binding, unlike the cluster scenario’s results, and said that as the size of its queue continues to grow, the standalone will become less valuable.

The RTO told FERC it intends to revise its Tariff to eliminate the standalone evaluation and will make the base case study models available earlier in the study process, allowing interconnection customers to perform their own standalone analysis. Several generation developers said their concerns about the loss of information from the standalone scenario would be mitigated by accessing the base case study models earlier, SPP said.

NextEra Energy Resources, Westar Energy, Sunflower Electric Power and Mid-Kansas Electric intervened in the proceeding.

SPP Granted Waiver Request to Resolve Billing Dispute

The commission granted a second SPP waiver request to help resolve a billing dispute over approximately $175,000 in transmission charges and penalties with Missouri’s Carthage Electric & Water Plant (ER18-385).

SPP filed the request with the commission in December, along with revised transmission service agreements showing Carthage as the customer and the Southwestern Power Administration as the host transmission owner. The agreements included terms and conditions that did not conform to the RTO’s Tariff, but they were included to implement the results of SPP’s dispute resolution process related to Carthage’s unreserved use of the transmission system.

The RTO said the agreements were intended to correct errors “made in good faith” and limited to only penalty amounts assessed to Carthage for instances of unreserved use between March 2014, when SPP’s Integrated Marketplace came online, through February 2015. SPP said its billing process was delayed because of changes made in implementing the new markets.

FERC found the revised agreements’ nonconforming changes “appropriately reflect” SPP’s dispute resolution process, enabled the RTO to resolve the billing dispute and will not “lead to undesirable consequences, such as harming third parties.”

MRES Escapes Obligation for QF Purchases

FERC approved a request by Missouri River Energy Services to terminate a mandatory obligation to purchase electric energy or capacity from qualifying facilities within SPP’s footprint and with a net capacity larger than 20 MW (QM18-2).

MRES, an organization of 60 member municipalities that own and operate their own electric distribution systems, made the request on behalf of itself and 33 of its members, which are all SPP members. It said QFs within SPP have nondiscriminatory access to a market that satisfies the requirements of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act and warrants termination of a utility’s mandatory purchase obligation under the act.

The commission agreed, rejecting a protest from a wind farm developer as being outside the proceeding’s scope. FERC said the protest did not rebut MRES’ application by showing factors unique to individual QFs, such as operational characteristics and transmission limitations that prevent them from having nondiscriminatory access to markets.

Tri-County CEO Loses Bid to Serve on 2 Boards

The commission denied a rehearing request from a utility CEO prohibited from serving on the boards of directors for both South Central MCN and Golden Spread Electric Cooperative (ID-8117).

FERC denied Zac Perkins, who has served as Tri-County Electric Cooperative’s CEO since May 2016, from holding the interlocking positions in April 2017. He claimed a position on the Golden Spread board by virtue of being a CEO at one of its distribution co-op members, and he said a long-term agreement between South Central and Tri-County entitled him to serve as the co-op’s designated board member with South Central.

The commission said it “generally disfavors” interlocks between two or more unaffiliated public utilities, and that Perkins’ justifications did not distinguish themselves from Federal Power Act’s rules intended to curb corporate relationships.

Perkins said FERC did not satisfactorily explain why its findings were appropriate and did not substantively address the arguments in his application. He said no public or private interests would be adversely affected by his holding interlocking board positions.

The commission disagreed, saying his arguments did not overcome its “well-documented concerns” about interlocks among unaffiliated public utilities and the “arm’s-length bargaining process” that could adversely affect competition and consumers.

Both South Central and Golden Spread are SPP members.

— Tom Kleckner