Public Service Enterprise Group and the PJM Power Providers Group (P3) asked the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last week to overturn two FERC orders approving PJM capacity market rules.
PSEG challenged FERC’s Oct. 15 ruling denying rehearing of a 2014 order approving PJM’s changes to its capacity auction demand curve and related parameters (ER14-2940). (See FERC Upholds PJM’s Capacity Market Parameters.)
PSEG and P3 had disputed PJM’s use of an 8% cost of capital used in cost of new entry (CONE) calculations, saying it was too low because it relied on corporate-level data for publicly traded independent power producers and did not reflect riskier, project-level financing.
Separately, P3 appealed FERC’s refusal to rehear a 2013 order approving PJM’s revisions to a rule designed to mitigate buyer-side market power in the capacity market (ER13-535).
The ruling addressed the minimum offer price rule (MOPR), which PJM added to its auction protocols in 2006 amid concern that load could have an incentive to suppress market clearing prices by offering supply at less than a competitive level.
P3 challenged FERC’s rejection of PJM’s proposal to extend the MOPR mitigation period mitigation from one to three years. It also contended the ruling conflicted with its prior rulings on buyer-side market power mitigation regarding NYISO. (See FERC won’t Rehear PJM MOPR Ruling.)
— Rich Heidorn Jr.