Watching Government: No time to rush FERC

Dec. 18, 2017
Kevin J. McIntyre was sworn in as US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman on Dec. 7. He immediately asked US Energy Sec. Rick Perry for another 30 days to act on the “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule,” which the secretary proposed on Sept. 29.

Kevin J. McIntyre was sworn in as US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman on Dec. 7. He immediately asked US Energy Sec. Rick Perry for another 30 days to act on the “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule,” which the secretary proposed on Sept. 29.

“There is a growing recognition that commission-approved organized markets do not necessarily pay generators for all the attributes they provide to the grid, including resiliency,” Perry said. Such generators often are not fully compensated for benefits they provide, he said.

Several reactions since have suggested that the idea was less about making the nation’s power grid more resilient following extraordinary weather events, and more about financially bailing out electric utilities’ coal-fired and nuclear power plants, which have both begun to look less economic.

“The grid operators tasked with maintaining reliability in regions impacted by DOE’s proposal all opposed [it], noting that the proposal would reverse the progress made by FERC and the [Regional Transmission Organizations] in developing ‘robust and reliable competitive markets,’” Natural Gas Supply Association Executive Vice-Pres Patricia W. Jagatini said on Nov. 7.

“Comments from the regional operators must be heavily weighed by the commission as opposed to comments by parties that have much to gain by the adoption of the DOE proposal, which blatantly discriminates among generators that rely on other fuel sources and inaccurately portrays natural gas,” Jagatini said.

NGSA was not alone in opposing the idea in joint comments that day. So did the American Petroleum Institute, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, Advanced Energy Economy, American Biogas Council, American Council on Renewable Energy, American Wind Energy Association, Electric Power Supply Association, Electricity Consumers Resource Council, Energy Storage Association, and Solar Energy Industries Association.

Two newcomers in 2 weeks

FERC has received more than 1,500 comments since Oct. 2, when the commission solicited reactions to the idea, McIntire noted. “In addition, the commission has sworn in two new members within the last 2 weeks. The proposed extension is critical to afford adequate time for the new commissioners to consider the voluminous record and engage fully in deliberations,” he told Perry.

Federal law requires FERC to take final action on secretarial proposals within a reasonable time period set by the secretary, McIntire said. It does not limit the means by which deadlines can be altered but vests such determinations “squarely within the discretion of the secretary,” he said.

It’s an encouraging sign that despite having to replace four of its five commissioners since the beginning of the year, FERC apparently remains committed to moving with care before making such an important decision. It deserves all the time it needs to do exactly that.