By Suzanne Herel

FERC last week rejected a complaint by Tenaska that PJM inappropriately disqualified the company’s combustion turbines as Tier 1 synchronized reserves (EL16-9).

Tenaska had sought to force PJM to restore $1.9 million the RTO deducted from the company for Tier 1 payments between October 2013 and July 2014.

Tenaska alleged that PJM did not have authority to deselect classes of generating sources, such as CTs, from providing Tier 1 synchronized reserves. The complaint said PJM violated its Tariff, the filed rate doctrine and the rule against retroactive ratemaking.

FERC backed PJM’s position that its Tariff gives it discretion to deselect resources from Tier 1 reserves, which can be provided by partially loaded generators able to provide energy within 10 minutes.

It said the RTO made its decision in real-time and not retroactively and that it had experienced performance issues with CTs as a class. The billing adjustments were consistent with the Tariff, PJM said, and exercised because of an error made by PJM Market Settlements.

NRG Energy filed comments in support of Tenaska’s complaint, while the Independent Market Monitor filed in support of PJM.

“We find that PJM reasonably interpreted [its Tariff] as vesting PJM with broad discretion to decide whether a generating resource is capable to reliably provide Tier 1 Synchronized Reserve,” the commission wrote.

FERC said Tenaska’s interpretation of the Tariff would require PJM to procure 4,000 MW to 9,000 MW of Tier 1 reserves, compared to the RTO’s requirement of 2,100 MW.