By Rich Heidorn Jr.
FERC last week scheduled a technical conference for Nov. 12 to examine how PJM determines whether solutions to local transmission needs should be part of the regional transmission plan and opened to competitive proposals under Order 1000.
It also will examine how the RTO and its transmission owners identify local transmission needs (ER15-1344, ER15-1387).
The commission ordered the conference Sept. 15 in response to PJM’s filing seeking approval of the cost allocations for 61 baseline upgrades added to its Regional Transmission Expansion Plan (ER15-1344).
The conference also will address issues raised by rehearing requests filed over the TOs’ proposal to change the cost allocation for reliability projects selected in the RTEP solely to address local transmission owner planning criteria (ER15-1387-001).
In March, Dayton Power & Light protested the cost allocation of a $106 million transmission project by Dominion Resources that was included in the 2015 RTEP. The 500-kV Cunningham-Elmont end-of-life project (Project b2582) initially was designated a supplemental proposal, for which Dominion, as the incumbent utility, would bear the full cost.
But after changing its local planning criteria last year, Dominion asked PJM to study the need for the project and received permission to change its designation to baseline, categorizing it as a new line and allowing the company to reduce its costs by more than half. (See DP&L Protests Dominion Project over New Cost Allocation.)
A supplemental project is one that is not required for compliance with state public policy or PJM system reliability, operational performance or economic criteria.
PJM: No Policies for Reclassifying Supplemental Projects
FERC issued PJM a deficiency letter in June seeking more information on the RTEP filing.
In its response, PJM acknowledged that there are no provisions in its Tariff, Operating Agreement or manuals that explain how the RTO re-categorizes a supplemental project to a baseline upgrade that is eligible for regional cost allocation. Nor is there any documentation that describes the process by which a transmission owner updates its local planning criteria, PJM said.
In its September order, FERC said that PJM’s RTEP filing and deficiency letter response raised issues that could not be resolved based on the record before it.
“Although we are establishing a technical conference, we do not find merit in Dayton’s argument for rejecting the cost assignment for project b2582,” the commission said. “The record indicates that Dominion followed the appropriate procedures to update its local planning criteria. Specifically, after Dominion presented its proposal to add end-of-life criteria to its individual transmission planning criteria at a PJM Planning Committee meeting, Dominion adopted the proposed criteria in its FERC Form No. 715.
“Thus, Dominion’s revisions to its individual transmission planning criteria will not be discussed at the technical conference. Instead, the technical conference will focus on PJM’s application of its Order No. 1000-compliant planning procedures, including PJM’s process for opening proposal windows.”
The commission said the conference also will examine concerns regarding how PJM plans for local transmission projects, including PJM’s “process for soliciting, identifying and selecting the more efficient or cost-effective regional transmission solutions for all needs for purposes of cost allocation.”
