By Rich Heidorn Jr.
PJM Insider

WASHINGTON – Large electric cooperatives and public power agencies must begin reporting their “surplus” power trades to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency said today, standing firm on an order it issued in September.

The new reporting requirements apply to more than 50 cooperatives and public power agencies otherwise exempt from FERC authority that have “more than a de minimis market presence” – defined as more than 4 million MWh in annual wholesale sales.

The newly-affected entities must begin recording their transactions in Electric Quarterly Reports (EQRs) for the third quarter of 2013.

In denying a request for reconsideration, the commission also reiterated its requirement that all EQR filers begin including electronic tag (e-Tag) data in reporting their transactions.

Reason for change: 

Order 768, issued Sept. 21, is a response to Congress’ command in the 2005 Energy Policy Act to improve price transparency in wholesale electric markets.

The commission said the reporting requirements were necessary because non-public utilities are responsible for about 29% of wholesale sales in the 48 contiguous states (excluding ERCOT).  They represent 60% or more of sales within the Western Electric Coordinating Council (WECC), SERC Reliability Corp. and Florida Reliability Coordinating Council (FRCC) FERC said.

The American Public Power Association said the commission’s estimate overstates the role of non-public utilities, which it estimated at 19% of sales nationally. APPA said the data FERC used, from the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) Form 861, are inaccurate because EIA reports a power marketer’s sales as being from a single region although it may make sales in several regions.

Impact:

The reporting requirements cover only “surplus” sales. Excluded from reporting are cooperative and joint agency sales to members or long-term, cost-based sales required by state or federal law.

The order may affect more than 40 public power utilities whose sales top 4 million MWh, according to data compiled by the American Public Power Association.  Among the largest agencies are several PJM members, including American Municipal Power, Inc., North Carolina Municipal Power Agency No. 1, Indiana Municipal Power Agency and WPPI Energy. (To help PJM market participants in their data gathering, the Market Settlements Reporting System (MSRS) provides reports formatted to match the EQR structure.)

About half of the 60 largest generation and transmission cooperatives also are likely to be covered by the new rule, according to a former FERC staff attorney who had analyzed the order’s impact.

FERC estimated in Order 768 that the rule would cover about 53 non-public utilities above the threshold.

The order also added new fields in the EQR for:

• reporting the trade date and the type of rate;
• identifying the exchange used for a sales transaction, if applicable;
• reporting whether a broker was involved; and
• reporting electronic tag (e-Tag) ID data.

It also standardized reporting of prices and quantities for energy, capacity and booked out transactions and requires entities to disclose whether they report their sales transactions to an index publisher.

The Commission did cut two requirements, eliminating reporting on time zones and Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) information.

Industry Reaction:

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said that FERC overestimated the impact of its members on wholesale markets and that the EQR expansion would not improve transparency.

However, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission supported the reporting requirement, saying it will help its ability to monitor retail markets for anti-competitive behavior. Pennsylvania has 13 rural electric cooperatives and about 35 municipal electric utilities.

Market monitors for PJM, MISO, NYISO, ISO-NE SPP, and California ISO also supported the requirement. The monitors noted that the commission’s market-based rate program is based on “regulation through competition,” and is thus dependent on mitigating market power.

FERC contacts:

Maria Vouras, Office of Enforcement, (202) 502-8062, Maria.Vouras@ferc.gov
Christina Switzer, Office of the General Counsel, (202) 502-6379, Christina.Switzer@ferc.gov