Coordination

FERC took another step forward in its efforts to improve coordination of the natural gas and electricity markets, accepting on Thursday compliance filings by a pair of western grid operators, while rejecting another from Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).

Dual-fuel capability “has a much lower cost for a new combined-cycle plant” than firm natural gas transportation for power generators in the Eastern Connection, and for simple-cycle plants the difference is even more pronounced, according to a study summarized in the last of eight Gas-Electric Coordination Quarterly Update reports issued by FERC Thursday.

A FERC quarterly update of various regional efforts to coordinate natural gas and electric markets shows that the New England and Northeast generation markets will continue to be the most gas-dependent during the upcoming heating season.

As part of its ongoing effort to address coordination in the natural gas and power industries, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) staff said it will hold a technical conference on Feb. 13 at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC, to focus on information-sharing and communications issues between natural gas and electric power industry companies. The technical conference is the first of two conferences that FERC directed staff in mid-November (see Daily GPI, Nov. 19) to convene to address common issues that were raised in nearly every region in August (see Daily GPI, Aug. 31; Aug. 29; Aug. 21; Aug. 24). In advance of the conference, parties are asked to file comments on specific questions related to information-sharing and communications (www.ferc.gov/EventCalendar/Files/20121207134434-AD12-12-000TC1.pdf). The conference is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. EST.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday signed into law amendments to the state’s 1984 Coal and Gas Resource Coordination Act, which will require natural gas drillers to coordinate their activities with active coal mine operations.

FERC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have signed a memorandum of agreement promoting a more streamlined regulatory process through early coordination of efforts to identify the purpose, needs and alternatives for regulated natural gas projects.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will convene a technical conference later this month that will examine interregional coordination issues between regional transmission organizations (RTOs). Although specifics on the conference remain somewhat sketchy, it appears that the issue of seams in the broader context of RTO formation will be a key topic of discussion at the gathering. The conference has been scheduled for June 19.

The heat of July and Cinergy’s sweaty response to it mean EastCentral Area Reliability Coordination Agreement (ECAR) rules areabout to change to strongly discourage the unauthorized drawing ofpower from the system.

The heat of July and Cinergy’s sweaty response to it mean EastCentral Area Reliability Coordination Agreement (ECAR) rules areabout to change to strongly discourage the unauthorized drawing ofpower from the system.