Dive Brief:
- By a 3-2 decision, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) allowed a 50 basis point increase of the tariff independent transmission owner ITC Midwest may charge. Opposition to the decision was from commissioners who wanted the company’s 100 basis point adder granted. (Docket No. ER15-945-000)
- Interveners against approving the “Transco Adder” requested in January by ITC Midwest were (1) the Midwest TDUs, a group of transmission-dependent utilities that includes public power utilities, (2) the Resale Power Group of Iowa, which includes several municipal utilities, (3) Iowa and Mississippi state regulators, and (4) Great Lakes Utilities.
- Commissioners Moeller and Clark dissented on the technical grounds that the decision offered no guidance on future Adder requests and on the broader grounds that the decision is a disincentive to build new lines just when the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan may require significant new build out.
Dive Insight:
The decision “sends the wrong message,” Moeller and Clark wrote in dissent. “We also find it puzzling that the Commission would reduce transmission incentives for a Transco business model when it is just beginning to see the effects of competitive solicitation under Order No. 1000. These mixed messages from the Commission on the value of innovative business models and transmission investment decrease regulatory certainty at a time when it is most needed…”
Still pending and potentially affected are: (1) a November 2013 complaint by large industrial customers against the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and certain of its transmission-owning members, including ITC Midwest, that contends the 12.38% ROE allowed for MISO transmission owners is unjust and unreasonable, and (2) a complaint from Mississippi’s Clarksdale Public Utilities Commission and the Public Service Commission of Yazoo City that argues MISO’s base ROE should be reduced (Docket No. EL15-45-000).
