This post updates the most recent post regarding initial state and federal proceedings that were initiated in light of Order No. 872.
Post-Order No. 872 Requests for Relief from the PURPA Purchase Mandate
Given the paucity of actual or potential
PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog
The PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog, published by Steptoe LLP, focuses on legal and regulatory issues surrounding the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) and the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs). It covers topics such as community renewable energy programs, net energy metering, state and federal regulatory developments, FERC jurisdictional matters, DER aggregation, and compensation mechanisms for DER services. The blog analyzes state commission decisions, FERC orders, and industry standards affecting DER participation in energy markets, including challenges related to double compensation and the evolving role of DER aggregators under federal and state frameworks.
Latest from PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog - Page 4
Order No. 872-Related FERC and State Proceedings Initiated in Its Initial Weeks of Effectiveness
By Jennifer Key
Now that Order No. 872 has been effective for a few weeks, the first few proceedings that will inform its implementation have commenced. More such proceedings will certainly be initiated in next few months.…
FERC’s PURPA Reform Rule: Order No. 872-A’s Few Clarifications and Modifications Continue to Indicate that FERC and the States Will Have Significant Discretion in Implementing PURPA
By Jennifer Key
Last week, FERC issued Order No. 872-A, its “further guidance order” on the PURPA Reform Final Rule. Appeals of Order No. 872 are pending at the Ninth Circuit, with the first appeal being held in abeyance until no later…
The Vermont PUC Takes a Stance Against FERC Jurisdiction Over Wholesale Power Sales From Distributed Resources
By Jennifer Key
Readers of this blog may know that Allco can be a thorn in the side of utilities with PURPA purchasing obligations. Allco is often successful in ensuring the rights of QFs under PURPA in district and appellate court cases. Sometimes,…
The Best Description of Order No. 2222? “Landmark” “Transformative” Ground-Breaking” “Barrier-Busting” “Competition-Boosting” “Game-Changing” “Bold” or “None of the Above Due to Traditional Net Metering”?
By Jennifer Key
The glowing reviews and legal/trade press headlines would have one believe that DER Aggregation under Order No. 2222 will soon transform the electric industry, as DERs too small to participate directly in RTO/ISO markets will flock to third-party DER Aggregators…
Order No. 2222 – FERC Sows Some Confusion as to Interconnection Jurisdiction for QFs that Are Exclusively DER Aggregation Participants
By Jennifer Key
One would think the issue of jurisdiction over interconnections to distribution facilities of resources selling wholesale power could not get more complex. Order No. 2222 proves that it could. Specifically, QF interconnections to distribution, an area where jurisdiction previously had…
The Great Order No. 2222 Mystery: Why Aren’t DERs that Participate in Aggregations Subject to Public Utility Requirements?
By Jennifer Key
Order No. 2222 goes to great length explaining why DER aggregators selling power are public utilities making FERC-jurisdictional sales under FPA Section 205. FERC holds “to the extent that a distributed energy resource aggregator’s transaction in RTO/ISO markets entails the…
The Commission Takes a Narrow View of Broadview
By Jennifer Key
In the long-awaited Broadview Order, FERC reinforced PURPA’s statutory limit for small power production qualifying facilities (SPP QFs) to a “power production capacity” of not more than 80 MW. SPP QFs can not evade this statutory limit by restraining…
PURPA Final Rule Post IV – The Fuss Over LMP
By Jennifer Key
Order No. 872 spends an inordinate number of pages discussing the wholly optional use by a state of Locational Marginal Prices (LMPs) for those QFs selling only as available energy in an RTO market. 18 C.F.R. § 292.304(b)(6). The reason…
PURPA Final Rule Post III – Were the Ninth Circuit’s CARE v. CPUC and FERC’s CPUC Decisions Overturned?
By Jennifer Key
One very significant set of cases seems to have been overturned in Order No. 872, although more clarity could have been provided and a regulation is needed to make any reversal binding on the courts.
In 2010, in CPUC…