FERC Formal Rulemaking directive

On Friday, September 29, Rick Perry directed FERC to undertake a formal rulemaking within the next 60 days aimed at compensating baseload generation. The main precipitator of this rule is the 2016 Department of Energy’s Grid Reliability Study, which indicated weaknesses in the reliability of energy sources. “The recent Polar Vortex, as well as the devastation from Superstorm Sandy and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria reinforces the urgency that the Commission must act now. Moreover, the Commission should take action before the winter heating season begins so as to prevent the potential failure of the grid from the loss of fuel-secure generation–as almost happened during the 2014 Polar Vortex.”

Secretary Perry’s direction is to require the regional transmission markets to revise their tariffs to ensure coal and nuclear generators are fairly compensated for the stability to the grid. Click Here to read a copy of Secretary Perry’s instructive letter to FERC.