Page 1197 – RTO Insider

February 27, 2018

FERC Rethinking PJM Capacity Performance Rules

By Rory D. Sweeney

In a potential win for PJM ratepayers and demand response providers, FERC on Friday ordered a technical conference to consider whether the RTO should move from a year-round to a seasonal capacity construct (EL17-32, EL17-36).

The commission ordered the conference in response to two complaints: one from the Advanced Energy Management Alliance, and a combined filing from Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, Direct Energy and American Municipal Power.

The order calls for the conference to address whether:

the exclusive use of a year-round capacity product raises customer costs unnecessarily compared to retention of a seasonal capacity product;
standalone participation by seasonal resources in non-summer months would jeopardize reliability;
alternative models, such as establishing distinct summer and winter capacity markets, could assure reliability at lower costs;
if it is true that nearly all loss-of-load-expectation (LOLE) risk currently exists in 10 summer weeks, there is an alternative distribution of LOLE risk that could meet the one-day-in-10-years reliability target at a lower total cost; and
PJM’s load forecast methodology incorporates load-serving entities’ peak-shaving actions in an adequate and timely manner to yield just and reasonable rates for consumers.

The order indicates that FERC is having second thoughts about PJM’s year-round Capacity Performance construct — even before the rules have been fully implemented.

PJM proposed CP, which eliminated summer-only DR, to address generator outages that peaked at 22% during the January 2014 polar vortex. The rules call on all resources to be able to respond to dispatch calls throughout the year and requires the RTO to contract for enough year-round capacity to meet its annual demand peaks in the summer. The rules also subject resources to stiff financial penalties if they fail to perform during critical periods known as “performance assessment” intervals. But much of the capacity goes unused in the periods of lower demand: Summer peaks can top 150 GW, while the winter typically peaks at less than 100 GW.

PJM FERC capacity seasonal resources — | *PJM*

Under PJM’s transition, “base capacity” resources that operate only in certain seasons, such as renewables and DR were phased out. Only CP resources were permitted in last year’s Base Residual Auction, which procured capacity for the 2020/21 delivery year.

The two complaints offered different justifications, but both asked FERC to delay full implementation of CP and continue to allow base capacity resources until rules are developed to allow meaningful participation from seasonal resources. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission filed comments in support of their arguments.

AEMA pointed out recent analysis from PJM that showed that the RTO could increase its summer requirements by roughly 500 MW to allow more than 17,000 MW of annual capacity to be replaced by less expensive summer-only resources, and that an additional unit of summer-only capacity has 97% of the reliability value of an additional unit of year-round capacity.

“Once base capacity resources are eliminated, customers will need to pay for tens of thousands of megawatts of unnecessary capacity in non-summer weeks to compensate for the loss of base capacity resources during the peak summer period,” the commission wrote, summarizing AEMA’s argument.

PJM and several generators opposed the complaints, arguing they don’t bring up anything new and aren’t justified. They said the RTO had provided an ample opportunity for participation by seasonal resources. In a separate order last week, FERC approved Tariff revisions that allow offsetting seasonal resources to aggregate into a single, annual product that conforms with CP’s requirements. (See related story, FERC Endorses Previously OK’d PJM Aggregation Rules.)

FERC sided with the complainants.

“Capacity Performance has now been in effect for two years, and the complainants have raised important issues as to whether certain aspects of the construct are performing as well as expected,” the order said. “Complainants present analyses prepared by PJM which call into question the assumption that permitting any standalone participation by seasonal resources would negatively impact reliability in non-summer months.”

FERC Chairman Kevin McIntyre and Commissioner Robert Powelson, former chairman of the Pennsylvania PUC, did not participate in the order. Of the three other commissioners, only Cheryl LaFleur was on the panel when it approved CP in 2015.

February 27, 2018

PJM: Cold Snap Uplift Shows Need for Pricing Changes

By Rich Heidorn Jr.

PJM said Monday that its generation fleet performed much better in this New Year’s cold snap than during the 2014 polar vortex, but that high uplift costs during the event signal the need for its proposed pricing rule changes.

The RTO’s report on the Dec. 28, 2017, to Jan. 7, 2018, cold snap noted that temperatures were higher and customer demand lower than in 2014, although it did record its sixth highest winter peak on Jan. 5, when demand hit 137,522 MW in the 6-7 p.m. hour.

PJM reported a maximum of only 23,751 MW of forced outages during the 2017-18 cold snap, a little more than half the 40,200 MW lost at the peak of the 2014 polar vortex. | *PJM*

It reported a maximum of only 23,751 MW of forced outages (12.1% of total capacity) on Jan. 5, a little more than half the 40,200 MW lost on Jan. 7, 2014 (22% of capacity). The report echoed the message CEO Andy Ott delivered to a Congressional hearing in January. (See FERC, RTOs: Grid Performed Better in Jan. Cold Snap vs. 2014.)

“PJM did not call a performance assessment interval, a 72-hour maintenance recall or any transient shortage intervals. … Even during peak demand, PJM had excess reserves and capacity,” the report said. “Many factors drove this improved performance. In addition to the milder weather, these include enhancements PJM and its member companies have put in place in the years since the polar vortex, such as increased investment in existing resources, improved performance incentives, enhanced winterization measures and increased gas-electric coordination.”

However, PJM’s operators dispatched many generators that did not set LMPs, resulting in average uplift charges of $4.3 million per day during the peak of the recent cold, 11 times the normal average of $389,000 per day.

PJM Uplift Polar Vortex — PJM incurred $47 million in uplift during this year’s cold snap. Uplift averaged $4.3 million per day during the worst of the cold, with one day totaling almost $9 million. | *PJM*

“On these days when the system is under additional stress, the actions the operators take to ensure that reliability is maintained are often not reflected in the transparent clearing prices. This problem, clearly evidenced by the cold weather experience, highlights the need for PJM and its stakeholders to evaluate reforms to address this issue in a timely manner,” PJM said. “These reforms include enhancing the manner in which reserves are procured and priced so that all operator actions are included in price signals and enhancements to the calculation of locational marginal pricing.”

PJM said it received cost-based energy offers exceeding $1,000/MWh between Jan. 3 and Jan. 7, but that “due to system conditions,” the resources did not receive day-ahead awards or run times during each of the operating days.

In December, PJM won stakeholder endorsement for creation of the Energy Price Formation Senior Task Force, which is considering rule changes to ensure prices accurately reflect the cost of serving load and minimize the need for uplift. The task force is scheduled to hold its fourth meeting March 5.

The report said PJM needs to continue improving its gas-electric coordination “to include improved contingency modeling and improved information sharing with local distribution companies.”

“Another area of fuel security that needs additional analysis, and potentially additional tools for operators and owners, is tracking and transportation of fuel oil supplies. While oil is typically a backup resource, PJM resources used more oil during the cold snap, which stressed some resources and supplies,” the RTO said.

February 27, 2018

Calif. Lawmakers Relaunch CAISO Regionalization

By Jason Fordney

A key California lawmaker is seeking comment this week on a revived effort to regionalize CAISO and create a multistate Western RTO, an effort that has sputtered over the last two years.

CAISO FERC Regionalization Western RTO — Holden | © *RTO Insider*

State Assemblymember Chris Holden (D), chair of the Utilities and Energy Committee, is taking public comment through Wednesday on proposed amendments to AB 813, which would authorize CAISO’s Board of Governors to develop a governance proposal for an RTO that would eventually allow California to relinquish its direct oversight of the grid operator.

The bill stipulates that the plan would then be submitted to the California Energy Commission, which — along with the California Air Resources Board — would review the proposal and also take public comment. If the CEC determines the proposal complies with the law, and if one or more transmission owners signs an agreement to join the new RTO, CAISO would be authorized to implement the new governance structure.

“Composition of the new board would not trigger until CEC approval and an agreement with at least one new balancing authority to join,” committee staffer Kellie Smith told RTO Insider in an email.

The proposal would provide for the establishment of a Western States Committee with three representatives from each state with TOs in the new RTO to provide input. According to the bill’s language, states would preserve their authority over member balancing authority areas, including procurement policy, resource planning and generation, and transmission siting within their states.

Holden led a similar effort last year, but it stalled along with separate legislation that would establish a 100% zero-carbon energy requirement for utilities in the state. (See CAISO Regionalization, 100% Clean Energy Bills Stall.)

While some industry interests favor regionalization to create a wider market for power generation, California labor unions have expressed concerns that the effort could export jobs to other states, and some state officials also worry about losing control over the state’s aggressive renewable and climate change policies.

Regionalization has been a longstanding goal of Gov. Jerry Brown, who is serving out his last year as governor ahead of this November’s elections. Two years ago, he put the effort on hold because of unresolved questions from critics both inside and outside California. (See California Lawmakers Take Up CAISO Expansion.)

The new amendments also stipulate that a Western RTO “not endorse, organize or operate a centralized capacity market in California for the forward procurement of electrical generating capacity that requires capacity to clear at a market clearing price in order to count for resource adequacy purposes.” It also calls for equitable transmission cost allocation rules, creation of an independent market monitor and voluntary participation by TOs.

“The ISO has thoroughly studied the benefits a regional grid has to offer and looks forward to providing any information to the Legislature, including Assemblyman Holden, as the measure moves forward,” CAISO told RTO Insider. “A regional approach is critical to supporting renewables, as energy leaders and environmentalists have noted about European experience, where many nations there leverage low-carbon resources through a single, coordinated grid.”

Changes Across the West

The restart of the regionalization effort comes amid several developments that could reshape the wholesale electricity industry in the West. Since late last year, CAISO has kicked off efforts to expand its day-ahead market across the Western Energy Imbalance Market (EIM) and depart Peak Reliability to become its own reliability coordinator (RC) — as well as offer reliability services across the region. (See CAISO to Depart Peak Reliability, Become RC.)

On Monday, the Bonneville Power Administration and Western Area Power Administration separately announced they have signed nonbinding notices signaling their intent to depart Peak Reliability by the end of 2019. BPA said it is exploring receiving RC services from CAISO, while WAPA is considering SPP’s RC services for its Upper Great Plains West and Western Area Colorado Missouri balancing areas, and SPP and CAISO for its Western Area Lower Colorado area.

“Our balancing authorities cover an expansive area in the West. Each has unique circumstances and requirements that we will respect when seeking the best possible RC for our operations and our customers,” WAPA Administrator Mark A. Gabriel said in a statement. “As we explore the best path forward for each of our BAs, the reliability of the grid will remain our top priority.”

Peak Reliability and PJM have also announced an effort to create a new western energy market, an effort the companies say will not be an RTO. (See Peak, PJM Pitch ‘Marketplace for the West’.) Peak has been the provider of RC services in much of the West since 2014.

February 27, 2018

FERC Endorses Previously OK’d PJM Aggregation Rules

By Rory D. Sweeney

FERC has given an unconditional thumbs-up to resource-aggregation rules for PJM that staff conditionally approved last year when the commission lacked a quorum (ER17-367).

The order officially approves rule changes PJM filed in November 2016 to allow seasonal resources to aggregate across locational delivery area borders, along with methodology changes to better account for demand response and wind performance in the winter. The new rules were implemented in time for last year’s Base Residual Auction, the first requiring all resources meet tougher Capacity Performance standards. (See PJM Outlines Aggregation Rules for Upcoming Capacity Auction.)

The commissioners affirmed staff’s decision without any changes, dismissing multiple protests. Throughout the order, the commission acknowledged that other strategies could work but that there were no compelling arguments for why PJM’s plan failed the “just and reasonable” standard.

The RTO argued to relax the rules prohibiting seasonal resources from aggregating across LDAs because they inhibit “what otherwise would be considered logical pairings” of resources that perform much better in one season compared to others, such as solar in the summer and wind in the winter. The rules model the aggregated resource in the lowest common tier of the LDA hierarchy, which could be RTO-wide; the resource would receive the corresponding LMP as compensation.

PJM FERC aggregation rules CIRS — PJM’s example for how it will aggregate seasonal resources in different LDAs. FERC has unconditionally approved PJM’s plan. | *PJM*

Opponents argued that the changes would interfere with accounting for a variety of factors, including reliability, resource adequacy and compensation. FERC denied all the protests, agreeing with PJM that the resources will remain responsible for actions in their individual LDAs, such as paying penalties during penalty-assessment intervals. The order approves PJM’s creation of a new mechanism called “RPM aggregation,” along with defining summer- and winter-only resources that submit offers for only half of the year.

Winter CIRs

FERC also approved PJM’s plan for modifying how it calculates winter-period capacity interconnection rights (CIRs) and dismissed multiple protests, allowing wind resources to put substantially more onto the grid. The commission agreed that the previous methodology, which relied on resources’ performance in the summer, grossly understated wind’s potential in the winter production, typically granting them the rights to inject just 13% of their nameplate capacity regardless of actual production.

Opponents argued that the changes will give resources rights to use more infrastructure than they paid for, but the commission agreed with PJM’s guarantee to prevent infringement on other resources’ available system capabilities as well as overwhelming the system’s existing topology.

PJM also sought to eliminate rules that limited how DR resources measured performance in the winter. The approved changes allow curtailment service providers to specify either a seasonal load cap resources are willing to commit if called upon or a firm amount of demand the resources are willing to drop in each season if dispatched by PJM.

“Specifically, PJM states that stakeholders are concerned that customers with winter load that reduce their load prior to PJM dispatch may not be recognized by PJM as having performed consistent with the Capacity Performance rules,” the order explains. “PJM … will ensure that customers with winter load consume electricity at a lower level when dispatched by PJM for an emergency or pre-emergency load management event, and that customers without winter load will not receive credit under the Capacity Performance rules for a load reduction just because they do not have load in the winter.”

February 27, 2018

PJM Markets and Reliability Committee Briefs: Feb. 22, 2018

WILMINGTON, Del. — Stakeholders remain reticent to cede too much command and control to PJM, voting at last week’s Markets and Reliability Committee meeting to defer a vote on revisions to Manual 14D because they felt the requirements for generation owners to submit ownership-transfer information were too strict.

PJM MRC Markets and Reliability Committee — Pratzon | © *RTO Insider*

GT Power Group’s Dave Pratzon said the changes could make it impossible for generators to meet PJM’s deadlines. (See “Owner Transfer Rules Revision,” PJM Operating Committee Briefs: Dec. 12, 2017.)

“The problem the generator owners have when they’re negotiating these deals is primarily timing. The timing set forth by PJM is not necessarily viable,” he said. “Certain information PJM needs may not have been negotiated in time to meet PJM’s deadline.”

Deals often need to be more fluid than PJM’s deadlines allow. “We feel the manual also needs to recognize commercial realities,” he said. He said one of his clients supplied him with a “page-long list” of issues and asked for more time to negotiate language changes before an endorsement vote.

PJM staff said there is a clause that allows staff to waive the requirements for more flexibility, but that the final five-day deadline can’t be adjusted.

“For those five days, we need to be sure that we have our units where they need to be in our system,” PJM’s Rebecca Stadelmeyer said.

However, Pratzon was not alone.

“We have similar concerns about the commercial reality,” EDP Renewables’ John Brodbeck said.

“The way it’s written right now, it looks like if [PJM doesn’t] feel like it, you won’t have to [provide the waiver],” Calpine’s David “Scarp” Scarpignato said.

Members subsequently agreed by acclamation to defer the vote. It will go back to the Operating Committee for reconsideration.

Overlapping Congestion

Members also deferred endorsement of a joint plant from PJM and MISO to address overlapping congestion charges for pseudo-tied resources. The decision came after PJM’s Tim Horger confirmed that consideration of the proposed Tariff and Operating Agreement (OA) changes could wait until next month’s meeting and still meet staff’s timeline.

“Ideally, we would file by the end of March,” Horger said.

PJM and MISO have been working to remove repetitive congestion charges and have developed a two-phase plan to eliminate them. These changes encompass the second phase. (See MISO, PJM Pursue Pseudo-Tie Double-Charge Relief.)

Carl Johnson, who represents the PJM Public Power Coalition, asked for clarification on a concern that certain market-to-market payments could simply be canceled under the rule. Horger said the payments are automatically created based on the pseudo-ties in the system and that he wasn’t aware of any concerns on that issue.

Johnson said he would research the topic further, and American Municipal Power’s Steve Lieberman asked if the endorsement vote could be delayed to address the question. To make the requested timeline, stakeholders must vote on the changes at both the MRC and Members Committee meetings next month.

OVEC Integration Set

Staff announced that the Ohio Valley Electric Corp.’s Board of Directors voted to change its date for integration into PJM from March 1 to June 1. (See FERC OKs OVEC Move to PJM.)

Staff also announced later in the day the cancellation of proposed transitional auction revenue rights for OVEC’s two coal-fired power plants. OVEC’s integration adds 705 miles of 345-kV transmission lines and 2,200 MW of capacity to PJM’s footprint.

Advocates Push Beyond FERC Order

Staff and transmission owners disagreed with customer representatives on how much change FERC recently ordered to PJM’s process for supplemental transmission projects. (See FERC Orders New Rules for Supplemental Tx Projects in PJM.)

PJM’s Steve Herling said the commission’s instructions call for more detailed delineation of how stakeholders can engage as TOs develop their supplemental projects.

“The bottom line is there’s a very short clock on the compliance filing,” he said, but the orders “seem to be relatively straightforward.”

Greg Poulos, executive director of the Consumer Advocates of the PJM States, said the order’s language “really raised a lot of alarms for me” and appeared to demand much more drastic changes.

“I’m reading this as FERC saying we’re going to tell you what to do because you’re not going in the right direction,” he said. “I was really hoping to see PJM do more than just the minimal amount that FERC orders transmission owners to do going forward.”

“Most of my read of the order was just to be more clear about” details and expanding access by adding more meetings, Herling said. “That’s the part that I think is going to be really straightforward to implement.”

“My reading of that is that the process has failed. And I don’t know that putting some more meetings in there addresses that,” Poulos responded.

Stakeholders agreed to further discuss the order’s implications at next month’s Planning Committee meeting.

Stakeholders Approve Variety of Actions

Stakeholders endorsed by acclamation several manual revisions and other operational changes:

Manual 2: Transmission Service Request. Revisions developed in conjunction with revisions endorsed at last month’s meeting to amend the process for analyzing transmission service requests. The changes come after a FERC judge criticized PJM’s current procedures. (See FERC Judge Faults PJM, TOs on Transmission Upgrade Process.)
Manual 11: Energy & Ancillary Services. Clarifies the energy offer verification process for demand-side bids, including caps on price-sensitive demand bids and eliminating certain restrictions on bids from curtailment service providers for pre-emergency and emergency demand response.
Manual 18: PJM Capacity Market. Revisions developed to adhere to a FERC compliance filing on rules for pseudo-tie requirements and a transition period for existing pseudo-ties.
A draft charter for the Summer-Only Demand Response Senior Task Force. The task force, which was developed to consider ways to take advantage of excess summer-only resources, has met several times. (See Stakeholders Seek Load Discussion in PJM DR Task Force.)
Members agreed to sunset the Underperformance Risk Management Senior Task Force (URMSTF) and the Regulation Market Issues Senior Task Force (RMISTF). The URMSTF developed proposals on underperformance risk management, which failed to receive MRC stakeholder endorsement, and changes to external Capacity Performance requirements, which was endorsed. The RMISTF resulted in implementation of a new regulation signal, along with a package of regulation procedure and requirement changes. (See PJM Regulation Compensation Changes Cleared over Opposition.)

— Rory D. Sweeney

February 27, 2018

Former CPUC Member Fined for Lobbying Violations

By Jason Fordney

A former California utilities regulator and political insider has been fined after state investigators determined that she failed to register as a lobbyist for ride-sharing company Lyft and San Gabriel Valley Water Co., an investor-owned public water utility.

CPUC ISO-NE RTO Insider transformers — Kennedy | *Linkedin*

In a 5-0 decision Feb. 15, the California Fair Political Practices Commission fined former California Public Utilities Commissioner Susan P. Kennedy $32,000 for failing to register as a lobbyist and file quarterly reports from late 2012 to early 2014, when she worked to influence the commission on behalf of the two companies.

Kennedy was chief of staff for former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, deputy chief of staff and cabinet secretary for former Gov. Gray Davis, and previously communications director for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein. She served on the CPUC from 2003 to 2006 and now helms energy storage company Advanced Microgrid Solutions, which was not named in the matter.

At a Feb. 15 meeting in Sacramento, FPPC Chair Joann Remke congratulated her enforcement staff for the investigation, saying lobbying cases are “difficult to prove” and are “few and far between.”

“And I know this was a long investigation and a good outcome,” Remke said.

The state’s Political Reform Act of 1974, the post-Watergate ballot measure that created the FPPC, requires lobbyists and lobbying firms to register with the Office of the Secretary of State and file quarterly reports on their clients, their clients’ interests and how much they were paid.

In the case of San Francisco-based Lyft, Kennedy was able to influence the CPUC beginning in 2012 to open a rulemaking over ride-sharing companies, according to the order. The commission was scrutinizing ride-sharing companies and had previously sent Lyft a cease-and-desist letter in August 2012 because it had not received operating authority.

The decision says Kennedy contacted then-CPUC President Michael Peevey, Executive Director Paul Clanon and other CPUC staff to convince them to work with ride-sharing companies rather than shut them down. The commission opened a rulemaking to address public safety issues and in September 2013 adopted regulations concerning liability insurance, driver licensing and background checks, driver training programs, vehicle inspections and data reporting.

“The efforts of Kennedy and Lyft were successful as the resulting rules and regulations adopted many of the suggestions and positions put forward by Kennedy and Lyft during the rulemaking process,” the decision says.

Kennedy also lobbied Peevey and current CPUC President Michael Picker in the first half of 2014 regarding San Gabriel, the FPPC said. The utility had a general rate case before the commission and was seeking to increase water rates, which were being fought by the city of Fontana and its school district.

“During these meetings, and through emails, Kennedy sought to influence the CPUC’s decision on cost recovery for the Sand Hill treatment plant in the general rate case,” the decision says. The commission sided with Fontana and denied the rate increase and cost recovery for the plant in May 2014 (Decision#15-11-028).

“The CPUC’s decision invalidated much of a settlement San Gabriel had with the CPUC’s Office of Ratepayer Advocate. Subsequently, the CPUC issued a decision on Nov. 24, 2015, that included a modified rate increase agreed upon by all parties,” the FPPC decision says. San Gabriel filed lobbying reports that listed other lobbyists but not Kennedy.

Under terms of the settlement with the FPPC, Kennedy agreed to register Susan P. Kennedy Inc. as a lobbying firm. She also filed reports detailing that she was paid $76,500 by Lyft and $125,000 by San Gabriel.

Kennedy was paid $201,500 by Lyft and San Gabriel Valley Water Company, the CFPPC said | *California Fair Political Practices Commission*

“While Kennedy maintains she did not intend to qualify as a lobbyist, given her experience and sophistication, she should have been aware at the time that her activity qualified as lobbying,” the decision says.

“Ms. Kennedy moved immediately once the discrepancy was identified to provide the necessary information requested by the FPPC. Integrity and character are hallmark principles in how Ms. Kennedy conducts herself in business, which is why she acted swiftly to resolve the matter,” Kennedy’s attorney James Harrison, of Remcho Johansen & Purcell, said in an email to RTO Insider.

FPPC spokesman Jay Wierenga told RTO Insider that the decision wraps up the commission’s investigation of Kennedy. “There is nothing more on our side regarding any investigation of Kennedy,” he said. “This case is complete.”

The CPUC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

The FPPC information request to Kennedy that led to the recent fine also asked for communications between her and other CPUC members regarding the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion and legal, legislative or regulatory actions that might have resulted from them. But the Feb. 15 FPPC decision does not mention anything about the San Bruno communications.

The request had also asked for communications between Lyft and Manal Yamout, a partner with Kennedy in Advanced Microgrid Solutions and Caliber Strategies and a former top adviser to Schwarzenegger and Gov. Jerry Brown. The decision and fine handed down by the FPPC did not mention Yamout.

Attorney General Referral

At the FPPC’s Feb. 15 meeting, Chief of Enforcement Galena West noted that the state’s attorney general had referred the Kennedy investigation to her group. The attorney general’s office did not respond to a request for more information on what spurred the referral.

Pacific Gas and Electric in September disclosed new emails of discussions between Kennedy and former PG&E executive Brian Cherry that described “back-channel” communications between the utility and CPUC members regarding the 2010 San Bruno incident that killed eight people. (See Probe Reveals More CPUC-PG&E Contacts on Pipeline Blast.)

The disclosure of the old Kennedy emails and others came as the CPUC was poised to approve an $86 million settlement with PG&E over previously disclosed improper communications with it regarding the accident. The commission at its November meeting delayed a vote on the settlement until June. (See Besieged CPUC Denies SDG&E Wildfire Recovery.)

CPUC lobbying violations Susan Kennedy — The 2010 San Bruno fire.

In delaying the settlement, the CPUC said additional time was needed after parties to the settlement asked for a second phase of the proceeding to explore whether PG&E had engaged in any additional ex parte communications.

“Once a second phase is opened, time will be needed for the parties to address, and for the commission to decide, if PG&E committed any additional ex parte violations,” the CPUC said in the order delaying the vote.

The ex parte case is separate from the $1.6 billion fine, refund orders and gas system improvements the CPUC levied on PG&E for the fatal explosion and fire, record-keeping and safety violations.

February 27, 2018

FERC Grants SPP Waiver to Resettle Z2 Credits

FERC last week granted SPP’s request to waive its one-year resettlement window so that the RTO can correctly bill transmission-upgrade customers for a month mistakenly omitted from invoices. The commission said SPP’s request satisfied its waiver criteria, and that the RTO had acted “in good faith” to calculate the corrected transmission revenue credits amounts and “ensure that customers’ bills are accurately resettled” (ER18-381).

FERC rejected Xcel Energy’s contention that SPP had failed to show that there are no undesirable consequences. The commission noted SPP said it alerted stakeholders it needed to correct the settlements. “Therefore, stakeholders have been on notice of and expected the planned corrections,” FERC said.

SPP said the waiver would allow it to include September 2016 billable amounts under Attachment Z2 of its Tariff, which assigns financial credits and obligations for sponsored transmission upgrades. SPP said in November that it had inadvertently omitted resettled amounts from September 2016 in its November 2017 invoices, placing the month outside the Tariff’s resettlement requirements. (See SPP Invoices Lead to Confusion on Z2 Payments.)

— Tom Kleckner

February 27, 2018

OGE, CenterPoint, Entergy Results Up on Tax Cuts

By Tom Kleckner

The cut in federal corporate income taxes figured prominently in fourth quarter earnings reports by OGE Energy, CenterPoint Energy and Entergy last week. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, signed into law by President Trump in December, reduced corporate income taxes to 21% from 35%.

Tax Savings Result in Positive Earnings for OGE

OGE said last week that the tax legislation was a major factor as the company reported 2017 earnings of $619 million ($3.10/share), almost double the previous year’s performance of $338.2 million ($1.69/share).

For the quarter, OGE reported net income of $294.8 million ($1.48/share), compared to $57.9 million ($0.29/share) for the same period in 2016.

In a conference call with analysts, OGE CEO Sean Trauschke said $49.3 million in federal tax breaks contributed to much of the increase.

“For us, tax reform is a positive,” Trauschke said during the Feb. 22 call. “Tax reform will be beneficial to our customers and accretive to shareholders of OGE. We worked hard to maintain a strong financial position that gives us this flexibility and helps us weather financial challenges that may come.”

The tax savings will be a factor as OGE’s electric utility, Oklahoma Gas & Electric, works its way through current and planned rate cases before the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. The utility requested a $72 million increase last year to recover the installation of new gas units at its Mustang Energy Center but projects the tax benefits will be used to account for much of that increase.

OG&E also plans to file a rate case later this year to cover the cost of coal scrubbers at its Sooner plant. A third rate case will likely be filed in 2019 for smart grid upgrade costs.

“We delayed our [Sooner] filing from late December to ensure customers benefited from the lower tax rate,” Trauschke said.

OG&E reported a gross margin of $1.36 billion for the year, down $16 million from 2016, because of unfavorable weather that was partially offset by new customer growth. However, the utility’s net income was up $22 million to $306 million because of lower depreciation and amortization expenses and an increase in funds used during construction of the Mustang Energy Center and environmental compliance projects.

OGE stock gained $2.13/share following its Feb. 21 close to finish the week $32.95/share.

CenterPoint Energy Records $1.1B Tax Benefit

The corporate tax cuts resulted in a $1.1 billion benefit to CenterPoint, which reported year-end earnings on Feb. 22 of almost $1.8 billion ($4.13/share), up from $432 million ($1/share) for 2016. Excluding the tax benefit, earnings were $593 million ($1.37/share).

For the quarter, the Houston-based company reported a net income of nearly $1.3 billion ($2.99/share), compared to $101 million ($0.23/share) over the same period last year. Excluding the tax benefit, earnings were $141 million ($0.33/share).

OGE centerpoint energy entergy earnings q4 2017 — | *CenterPoint Energy*

The Public Utility Commission of Texas wants to bring CenterPoint in for a comprehensive rate case, which would be its first in eight years. The company recently filed terms of a settlement it reached with PUC staff and other parties, and has agreed to a base rate case that would be filed no later than April 2019.

CenterPoint shares gained $1.50 following the earnings announcement, finishing last week up 5.7% at $27.23/share.

Entergy Beats Expectations, as Losses Narrow

Entergy beat Wall Street expectations by reporting fourth-quarter operating earnings of $137.6 million ($0.76/share) on Feb. 23, almost double the Zacks Investment Research consensus estimate of 42 cents/share.

When adjusted for higher expenses for nuclear operations and the write-down of tax assets not subject to the ratemaking process, Entergy reported a GAAP earnings loss of $479.1 million (-$2.66/share). Still, that was a marked improvement from the loss of $1.77 billion (-$9.88/share) for the same period in 2016.

For the year, the New Orleans corporation reported earnings of $411.6 million ($2.28/share), compared to losses of $583.6 million (-$3.26/share) in 2016.

Entergy also initiated 2018 consolidated operational guidance of $6.25 to $6.85/share, assuming “balanced regulatory treatment for the recently enacted tax reform legislation,” the company said in a statement.

CEO Leo Denault told analysts Friday the impact of the tax changes will be discussed in rate filings the company plans in each of its jurisdictions this year. “On an ongoing basis, the lower tax rate means that customer bills will be lower than they otherwise would have been. That’s important to us as evidenced by the fact that our rates are among the lowest in the country,” Denault said. “We expect [that] point to be addressed in the normal course of those proceedings.”

The Louisiana Public Service Commission on Wednesday ordered its staff to report back by March 21 on a recommendation for flowing the tax savings to ratepayers.

“As we look ahead to the next three years, our success continues to be less dependent on strategic initiatives and more on our own operational execution,” Denault added.

Investors reacted by driving up Entergy’s share price 3.7% to $77.74.

February 27, 2018

CAISO Recommends $2.7 Billion Tx Spending Cut

By Jason Fordney

FOLSOM, Calif. — CAISO’s latest transmission plan recommends cutting more than $2.7 billion from current transmission spending estimates across the 2027 planning horizon.

The ISO is preparing its 2017-2018 transmission plan for approval by the Board of Governors next month, launching the procurement phase of a process heavily influenced by expanding behind-the-meter solar generation. Board approval kicks off the processes for procuring transmission and determining eligibility for incentive rate cost recovery from FERC by virtue of being part of a state plan.

CAISO held an interregional planning forum in Folsom on February 22 | © *RTO Insider*

Speaking at the Western Planning Region Interregional Transmission Coordination Meeting on Feb. 22, CAISO Executive Director of Infrastructure Development Neil Millar said the plan represents about $160 million in capital spending, but there is currently more of an emphasis on project cancellation.

The plan “really did require hitting the reset button and a major re-planning effort for a number of those previously approved projects,” he said. The planning process is “in a pause waiting for state policy guidance on higher levels of renewable penetration.”

In a discussion later, Millar added that “we are trying to fit a bit of a square peg in a round hole” by using the interregional process as a potential way to bring renewables into California, “which is beyond the scope of what the interregional process was designed for.”

As a supplement to its 2016-2017 transmission planning process, CAISO in January issued a study noting that California faces a “severe shortage” of transmission capacity needed to tap potential New Mexico and Wyoming wind resources that would help the state meet its 50% renewable portfolio standard. (See CAISO: Tx Constraints Hinder Out-of-State Wind.)

The ISO’s 2017-2018 reliability analysis led to recommendations for 12 new transmission projects, but it is also recommending cancellation of 19 projects in the Pacific Gas and Electric service territory and rescoping of 21 others, accounting for the more than $2.7 billion in reductions. Six need further review, and two previously approved projects in San Diego Gas & Electric’s territory are recommended for cancellation. CAISO prioritizes regional and local reliability needs first, then state policy, followed by economic analysis, according to an ISO presentation.

“Reliability issues are largely in hand, especially with load forecasts declining from previous years and behind-the-meter generation forecasts increasing from previous projections,” CAISO said.

The forum explored the plans of Northern Tier Transmission Group, WestConnect, ColumbiaGrid, and TransWest. | © *RTO Insider*

CAISO works closely with the California Energy Commission, which provides demand forecasts and resource needs assessments for the transmission planning process while the ISO creates a transmission plan. The California Public Utilities Commission oversees procurement, with input provided by the CEC, the ISO, investor-owned utilities and others. Included in the plan is a reliability analysis for NERC compliance, transmission needs for a 33% RPS and other analyses.

The ISO is conducting sequential technical studies that will result in a draft transmission plan and is targeting March approval by the board to initiate procurement. It posted its draft plan on Feb. 1, with stakeholder comments due this week. The 2017-2018 plan was originally introduced in early 2017.

Western transmission developers attending the meeting also provided rundowns of their interregional plans, including Northern Tier Transmission Group, WestConnect, ColumbiaGrid and TransWest.

February 26, 2018

NJ Lawmakers Advance Latest Nuke Subsidy Bills

By Michael Brooks

New Jersey lawmakers on Thursday once again voted to advance legislation out of committee that would provide subsidies to the state’s nuclear fleet.

A previous effort foundered earlier this year when a key lawmaker declined to post a similar bailout bill for a vote before the close of a lame duck session. (See NJ Lawmakers Pass on Nuke Bailout in Lame Duck Session.)

new jersey nuclear subsidy — Salem & Hope Creek Nuclear Power Plants | *Green Delaware*

But this time, the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee (A2850) and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee (S877) approved bills that also contain incentives for renewables and energy efficiency, including a provision in the Senate bill that would sharply increase the state’s renewable portfolio standard to 35% by 2025 and 50% by 2030.

The nuclear portion of the legislation remains identical to previous versions: Nuclear plants that the Board of Public Utilities finds economically unviable would receive funding through a 0.4-cent/kWh charge on ratepayers’ bills.

During a nearly four-hour joint hearing of the committees, opponents of the legislation urged lawmakers to slow down and allow the board and the Division of Rate Counsel to study the disparate nuclear and renewable components of the bills and their impact on ratepayers. They criticized the rush to pass the nuclear subsidies, asserting that the renewable elements of the legislation were included without enough consideration.

“This is complex stuff,” said Sarah Bluhm of the New Jersey Business and Industries Association. “I think we really have to take a step back, because what we’re missing from this is comprehensive planning.”

Dennis Hart, executive director of the Chemistry Council of New Jersey, expressed concern that the group’s member companies that built their own onsite solar facilities and set their own energy-efficiency standards would be paying more under the legislation. Along with several other speakers, he noted that it took Illinois and New York several years to enact their zero-emission credit programs.

“The BPU clearly needs to study the issue to assess the need for a subsidy before the process even starts,” said Scott Ross of the New Jersey Petroleum Council. “In particular, we believe the New Jersey Rate Counsel should have a seat at the table during these meetings.”

Legislators who voted against the bills expressed similar sentiments.

“I support the nuclear power plants, but there’s way too many unknowns,” Assemblyman Harold Wirths said.

“There’s way too much in this bill that it’s impossible for the ratepayers to follow what’s going on,” said Assemblyman Edward Thomson.

A full vote on the Senate bill had already been scheduled for Monday, but senators ended up shelving it until at least next month. “It’s a big bill. It’s a complicated bill. And we’re going to continue to press forward,” Senate President Steve Sweeney (D), the primary sponsor of the bill, told The News & Observer. “Like everything else, we’re adjusting things and look forward to getting it passed.”