By Rich Heidorn Jr.

WASHINGTON — FERC Chairman Norman Bay said last week he is reserving judgment on whether the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act needs another overhaul until after an upcoming technical conference.

Speaking at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners winter meetings, Bay said FERC staff is planning the agenda for the June 29 technical conference (AD16-16), called in response to a request by congressional Republicans.

The 2005 Energy Policy Act amended the 1978 law, saying that utilities would no longer be required to purchase power from PURPA generators larger than 20 MW, which are shown to have nondiscriminatory access to wholesale markets. (See FERC: Entergy not Required to Buy from Large QFs.)

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and U.S. Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a letter to FERC in November asking for a technical conference to “identify any potential administrative or legislative reforms that may be necessary.”

The Republicans noted significant changes since the 2005 amendments, including the falling price of natural gas and renewable energy. Their letter cited congressional testimony from Berkshire Hathaway Energy complaining that it was required to sign a PURPA contract at rates that are 43% above market prices, costing customers an extra $1.1 billion over 10 years.

NARUC President Travis Kavulla asked Bay at a general session meeting whether any of the regulations implementing PURPA “stand out … as hopelessly outdated.”

“I don’t want to prejudge what we might learn at the tech conference,” Bay responded.

Bay added that there are limits to what the commission can do regarding the law. “It’s not like FERC can change anything that Congress has said,” he said.

Democrats, led by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate energy committee, responded to FERC’s notice of the technical conference with their own letter Feb. 11, saying that the act “remains a singular federal backstop to support renewable energy in parts of the country that may otherwise have significant barriers.”

“In the past year, legislators and electricity regulators across the country have rolled back or debated rolling back incentives for renewable energy including renewable portfolio standards, energy efficiency resource standards and net metering programs,” they wrote. “… Until Congress chooses to act again, it would be improper for FERC to narrow the scope of [the law] any further.”