Katherine O'Konski

Latest Articles

FERC Rejects Tri-State Proposal to Become FERC-Jurisdictional

By Katherine O'Konski & Russell Kooistra on October 16, 2019

On October 4, 2019, FERC rejected without prejudice a stated rate tariff and Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”), among other filings, by Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc. (“Tri-State”) and its subsidiary Thermal Cogen Partnership, L.P. (“Thermal Cogen”). Tri-State, an electric cooperative previously exempt from FERC’s jurisdiction, submitted the filings in an attempt to submit to FERC regulation after Tri-State admitted Mieco, Inc., a jurisdictional public utility, to its Board of Directors. FERC concluded that…

Washington Energy Report

FERC Affirms Transmission Incentives to California Utilities for Regional Transmission Organization Participation

By Katherine O'Konski on October 9, 2019

On September 30, 2019, FERC issued two orders denying requests for rehearing of orders that respectively granted Pacific Gas & Electric Company (“PG&E”) and Southern California Edison Company (“SCE”) 50-basis point return-on-equity adders for their continued participation in the California Independent System Operator Corporation (“CAISO”) (“RTO-Participation Incentive”). PG&E requested the RTO-Participation Incentive as part of its nineteenth transmission owner tariff filing; SCE requested the RTO-Participation Incentive as part of its 2018 transmission revenue requirement filing.…

Washington Energy Report

ISO-NE’s Thirteenth Forward Capacity Auction Results Become Effective by Operation of Law Due to Recusal

By Katherine O'Konski & Kelsey Bagot on October 3, 2019

On September 25, 2019, FERC issued a notice stating that the results of the ISO New England, Inc. (“ISO-NE”) thirteenth Forward Capacity Auction (“FCA”) went into effect as of June 28, 2019 by operation of law—i .e., without FERC action. FCA 13 went into effect by operation of law due to a lack of quorum in the proceeding in which ISO-NE submitted the auction results and requested FERC approval of the auction as being conducted…

Washington Energy Report

FERC Directs MISO, SPP, and PJM to Memorialize Affected System Coordination Processes in Their Tariffs and Joint Operating Agreements

By Katherine O'Konski & Kelsey Bagot on September 25, 2019

On September 19, 2019, FERC granted in part and denied in part a complaint by EDF Renewable Energy, Inc. (“EDF”) which alleged that the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”), Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (“SPP”), and PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) Open Access Transmission Tariffs (“Tariffs”), the MISO-SPP Joint Operating Agreement (“JOA”), and the MISO-PJM JOA are unjust and unreasonable because they lack sufficient detail and transparency regarding the process each Regional Transmission Organization (“RTO”) uses…

Washington Energy Report

Executive Summary of FERC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978

By Kelsey Bagot, Katherine O'Konski, Russell Kooistra, Adrienne Thompson, Tom Marshall & Sidney Villanueva on September 20, 2019

Summary of NOPR On September 19, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to revise its regulations implementing Sections 201 and 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) in light of changes in the energy industry since 1978.[1]…

Washington Energy Report

Third Circuit Rules Natural Gas Companies Cannot Exercise Eminent Domain Power Over State-Owned Property

By Katherine O'Konski & Russell Kooistra on September 18, 2019

On September 10, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (“Third Circuit”) vacated a federal district court order permitting PennEast Pipeline Company (“PennEast”) to exercise eminent domain power under the Natural Gas Act (“NGA”) over property interests owned by the State of New Jersey. The Third Circuit found that while the NGA delegates the federal government’s eminent domain authority to private gas companies, it does not delegate the federal government’s separate…

Washington Energy Report

FERC Affirms Requirement for PJM Transmission Owners to Execute Designated Entity Agreements in its Transmission Planning Process

By Katherine O'Konski on September 10, 2019

On August 27, 2019, FERC affirmed its earlier rejection of PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (“PJM’s”) proposal to, in certain circumstances, exempt incumbent transmission owners from executing a Designated Entity Agreement pursuant to the Regional Transmission Expansion Plan (“RTEP”) process set forth in Schedule 6 of its Operating Agreement, but not to exempt other transmission developers from this requirement (“August 27 Order”). The August 27 Order on rehearing and compliance affirmed FERC’s conclusion in a July 2018…

Washington Energy Report

FERC Eliminates Obligation to Submit Indicative Screens to Obtain Market-Based Rate Authority in Certain Wholesale Markets

By Katherine O'Konski & Adrienne Thompson on July 24, 2019

On July 18, 2019, FERC issued Order No. 861, modifying its regulations regarding the horizontal market power analysis required to obtain authorization to sell energy, capacity, or ancillary services at market-based rates. FERC adopted its proposal (see December 20, 2018 edition of the WER) to relieve electric power sellers of the obligation to submit indicative screens to obtain or retain market-based rate authority in any Regional Transmission Organization (“RTO”)/Independent System Operator (“ISO”) market with…

Washington Energy Report

FERC Rejects MISO Interregional Cost Allocation Proposal; Directs Further Compliance Filings

By Katherine O'Konski on July 18, 2019

On June 24, 2019, FERC issued an order rejecting, without prejudice, Midcontinent Independent System Operator’s (“MISO”) and the MISO Transmission Owners’ (“MISO TOs”) proposal to allocate MISO’s share of the costs of certain interregional economic transmission projects with PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) and Southwest Power Pool, Inc. within the MISO footprint (“Interregional Cost Allocation Proposal”). FERC explained that it rejected the Interregional Cost Allocation Proposal because it referenced and relied on certain provisions contained within…

Washington Energy Report

FERC Permits MISO to Share Market Participant Information with Federal Agencies in Response to “Cyber Exigencies”

By Katherine O'Konski & Elizabeth McCormick on June 27, 2019

On June 20, 2019, FERC approved revisions to the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“MISO”) Tariff which permit MISO to share, without notice to its market participants, confidential information with federal cybersecurity authorities in response to detected cyber intrusions or weaknesses in electric utility infrastructure that have the potential to compromise reliability and call for immediate action. FERC concluded that MISO’s proposal allows for greater information sharing with the appropriate federal agencies before a potential…

Katherine O'Konski

FERC Rejects Tri-State Proposal to Become FERC-Jurisdictional

FERC Affirms Transmission Incentives to California Utilities for Regional Transmission Organization Participation

ISO-NE’s Thirteenth Forward Capacity Auction Results Become Effective by Operation of Law Due to Recusal

FERC Directs MISO, SPP, and PJM to Memorialize Affected System Coordination Processes in Their Tariffs and Joint Operating Agreements

Executive Summary of FERC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978

Third Circuit Rules Natural Gas Companies Cannot Exercise Eminent Domain Power Over State-Owned Property

FERC Affirms Requirement for PJM Transmission Owners to Execute Designated Entity Agreements in its Transmission Planning Process

FERC Eliminates Obligation to Submit Indicative Screens to Obtain Market-Based Rate Authority in Certain Wholesale Markets

FERC Rejects MISO Interregional Cost Allocation Proposal; Directs Further Compliance Filings

FERC Permits MISO to Share Market Participant Information with Federal Agencies in Response to “Cyber Exigencies”

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