Regulatory

While politicians were generally endorsing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s westwide market mitigation order, posted late Tuesday evening and effective at midnight that night, those in the trenches spent Wednesday parsing the 60-page order (EL00-95-031), figuring out implementation and strategies.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by a 5-0 vote Monday extended its power market mitigation program across the western states 24 hours a day, seven days a week through September, 2002, with a two part cost-based formula addressing prices during emergency and non-emergency periods. The new mitigation program begins the day after the issuance of the order.

As another week passed without a settlement among state political, regulatory and energy stakeholders, California state officials continued to push on with investigations and proposed punitive legislative measures aimed at merchant generators and marketers that are accused of price-gouging in the state’s wholesale power and natural gas markets.

As another week passed without a settlement among state political, regulatory and energy stakeholders, California state officials continued to push on with investigations and proposed punitive legislative measures aimed at merchant generators and marketers that are accused of price-gouging in the state’s wholesale power and natural gas markets.

International Transmission Co. (ITC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of DTE Energy, has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to require that transmission “free riders” pay for the costs of using ITC’s transmission wires. ITC and its Michigan customers currently pay an estimated $15 million per year to cover the cost of uncompensated uses if its transmission system.

As speculation mounts over whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is about to expand its California market mitigation plan to 24 hours a day, seven days a week across the West this summer, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) yesterday questioned whether such a move would eliminate what she asserted was a gaming of the system by generators to boost power prices.

Republican House energy leaders have urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expand its California market mitigation plan to 24 hours a day across the West this summer.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has called a special meeting for next Monday to address the multitude of requests for rehearing of its much-criticized market monitoring and mitigation plan that went into effect in late May for the California power market.

In light of the dire predictions for the New York electricity market this summer, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has requested emergency clearance of a proposal to collect data from generators on “total or partial” outages, both planned and unplanned, in the state over the next few months.