Stampedes are dangerous. QF stampedes toward stale above-market standard avoided costs rates are dangerous to ratepayers. The first stampede occurred in the 1980s in California. California’s utilities were compelled to offer standard rates to QFs based on gas and oil
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 7
DER Issues Raised by Storage Compliance Filing Comments
By Jennifer Key
On February 7, 2019, comments were submitted to FERC on the six RTO/ISO Order No. 841 (storage) compliance filings. FERC will need to address several issues regarding energy storage resources (ESRs), which are also distributed energy resources (DERs). This summary does not…
Legally Enforceable Obligations: An Update on Great Divide
By Jennifer Key
Updating the Year in Review on Legally Enforceable Obligations (LEO), FERC issued an Intent Not to Act on New Mexico Public Regulation Commission’s (NMPRC) LEO standard, which was challenged by a QF’s (Great Divide) Petition for Enforcement under PURPA. It…
Charging Storage Load – Distribution Owner Challenges Regarding Inbound Wholesale Distribution Service
By Jennifer Key
FERC, not surprisingly, has asserted jurisdiction over the “inbound” wholesale distribution service (WDS) required by distributed storage resources that participate in FERC-jurisdictional energy and ancillary service markets (Wholesale Storage DERs). Although FERC has long asserted jurisdiction over WDS, it addressed…
The Formation of Legally Enforceable Obligations: The Year in Review (2018)
By Jennifer Key
The Legally Enforceable Obligation (LEO) concept is a construct of FERC that is used in one of FERC’s avoided cost pricing regulations, i.e., 18 CFR § 292.304(d)(2)(ii). The date a LEO is formed is the date a QF is…
QF & DERs: Ignorance of the Law Is No Excuse
By Jennifer Key
As the industry continues to await action from FERC on PURPA in Docket AD16-16 or through a new rulemaking, various parties have submitted comments or pleadings in that docket and in other cases, that effectively take the position that QFs…
FERC to Address Several PURPA Issues In Coming Weeks and Months
By Jennifer Key
Over the last several weeks, a variety of entities have filed Petitions for Declaratory Order (PDO) or Enforcement Petitions relating to PURPA that may prove interesting to watch.
Sunrun asked FERC to make an exception for the need to self-certify…
Virtual Net Metering –Vulnerabilities of Free Delivery Service to Legal Challenges
By Jennifer Key
Some states permit end-users to “obtain” energy generated at a remote location, without requiring such end-users to pay the utility to which they and the generator are interconnected for the delivery and ancillary services required to move the energy to…
PURPA – Update on Docket No. AD16-16 and Other FERC PURPA Developments
By Jennifer Key
Supplemental Comments in Docket No. AD 16-16
In testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee as well as other venues, FERC Chairman McIntyre has made clear his desire to update PURPA, which has led to several entities submitting…