FERC on Friday approved an amendment to SPP’s bylaws clarifying that the RTO should not credit assessments for transmission service over and above the amount of members’ monthly administrative fee.

But the commission said the RTO improperly clawed back overpayments last year based on its reinterpretation of its bylaws before the rules were officially changed, ordering the RTO to pay $1.6 million in refunds (ER16-829).

SPP collects its administrative costs through a monthly assessment applied to load eligible to take network service under its Tariff (Schedule 1-A fees). Members receive a credit against the monthly assessment for fees paid for serving their load with network or point-to-point transmission service.

Between 2003 and 2015, the RTO had been making credits that sometimes exceeded the 1-A fees, with the RTO providing credits against other portions of the customers’ transmission settlement statements. The excessive credits resulted in a 1% undercollection of its administrative fees annually, forcing SPP to charge a higher administrative rate in the subsequent years.

In March 2015, SPP staff reinterpreted its bylaws and capped the credits. In December, the Board of Directors approved a revision of section 8.4 of the bylaws to clarify the new practice.

FERC approved the new crediting policy effective March 30, 2016, but denied SPP’s request for a waiver allowing the RTO to apply it retroactively.

As a result, the commission ordered SPP to provide refunds within 30 days for credits it denied last year under its new interpretation. The ruling was a victory for 13 SPP members who received credits in excess of their monthly assessments during 2014. Two members who filed protests, Kansas City Power and Light and Nebraska Public Power District, will receive the majority of the refunds, a combined $1.2 million as of December.

– Tom Kleckner