On July 27, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the release of the state's third competitive offshore wind solicitation (RFP), seeking to procure a minimum of 2,000 megawatts (MW) of new offshore wind generation capacity, as well as significant capital investment in New York's bourgeoning offshore wind energy supply chain. New York's Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act of 2019 established the goal of developing 9,000 MW of offshore wind capacity, the largest statutory goal to-date of any state in the country, by 2035. Combined with the 4,300 MW of offshore wind generation capacity procured through its prior two solicitations, the RFP will put the state more than two-thirds of the way towards reaching that target.
As with the prior two solicitations, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) will administer the RFP, and will be the counterparty to agreements entered into with the developers of selected proposals.NYSERDA将签订协议购买选定项目生成的离岸风能证书(ORECs),协议基础为开发商提议的固定或指数价。每位开发商必须包含一份至少25年期的建议书,用于向NYSERDA出售ORECs的合同。开发商将保留与ORECs相关联的电能、容量和辅助服务出售权。
RFP仅限于从美国获得风能租约(执行或临时租约)的开发商海洋能源管理局 和每个建议必须显示 向纽约提供电提案中包含的每个离岸风生成设施(可能不包含三个以上设施)必须最小名牌容量为(a)千兆瓦或(b)设施租区最大可用容量,而租区必须位于美国海水容量小于1,000兆瓦高压直接流技术将需安装电网约束区的所有项目使用HVDC使用时,项目必须“打乱备战状态”,或设计时有能力连接离岸电源变电站,从岸上多个离岸风力生成设施带电这一要求旨在加强发电机提供电的可靠性,并为未来的近海风项目提供灵活性。
Each开发者提交建议书时还必须包括供应链投资计划(SCIP ) 。 SCIP的拟议融资可能包括纽约州3亿元资金,如果本地制造nacelles或lips建议书必须包括至少2.00美元的非国家开发建设费用万博体育app手机登录hrefss/grebank.ny.gov/NYGreenBank 筹资(可算作非州筹资)EST处理RFP关键内容,包括资格标准、提交要求、建议书评价过程、合同承诺和授标后过程和协议Interested parties may register here.投标者必须在12月1日前向NYSERDA提交意向通知,最后建议书必须在12月21日前提交
2017 Spire项目证书应用Louis大都市区输油管交付点项目主办人则称管道会提高可靠性和获取天然气新源,消除高需求期间对丙烷“峰值分层”的依赖SpireSTL主要依赖它与Spire密苏里公司达成的先例协议("Spire Missouri"), an affiliate, for approximately 87.5 percent of the Spire Project's capacity as evidence of need for the project.
In FERC's August 2018 order granting Spire STL's certificate application, the 3-2 Commission majority found that Spire Missouri's willingness to sign a binding contract to pay for pipeline service showed need or demand for the Spire Project. The majority rejected protestors' arguments that the precedent agreement was not a sufficient showing of need and that a market study must be undertaken. The majority noted that, since the issuance of the Certificate Policy Statement, FERC has relied on precedent agreements for a substantial amount of a proposed project's capacity as adequate evidence of need, even when the agreements are between affiliates, in the absence of anticompetitive or discriminatory behavior. According to the majority, Spire Missouri's affiliation with Spire STL did not require the Commission to look behind the precedent agreement to evaluate project need, principally relying upon the D.C.电路2014决策Envtl预科安全 v.FERC ,762F3d 97,114Cir市委前委Cheryl LaFleur和RichardGlick对2018证书令表示异议,发现记录没有显示Spire项目的必要性。 双方都认为,鉴于SpireSTL和SpireMeGlick专员(现主席)指出,当各方提出了相当多的可信关切,即先例协议是否可靠显示需要时,推理决策要求委员会做更多工作,而不仅仅是重申其接受表面价值先例协议的政策。2019年11月FERC2-1表决拒绝重审证书令请求Glick专员再次表示异议,辩称证书顺序表示“不合理应用...证书策略语句.电路判定
FERC证书和重听命令提交法院,法院依据SpireSTL申请抗诉者Environment Defe Fund(“EDF's”)提交审查申请,EDF断言FERC授予Spire项目证书的决定是任意和易变的,因为委员会完全依赖SpireSTL-SpireMeroi创举协议查找项目需求,未能充分证明它的结论,即项目福利大于不良效果。EDF认为,先例协议在FERCSireSTL证书应用评估中应只有有限证明价值,因为SpireSTL和SpireMeroy法院指出,FERC得到了有力的论据,说明SpireSTL和SpireMeroi法院补充道,委员会似乎认为单一先例协议是结论性协议,而不是参与这些论点。The court found that nothing in the Certificate Policy Statement endorses this approach.
The court distinguished this case from its opinions upholding prior certificate orders by noting that none of those cases involved precedent agreements with one affiliated shipper, and that FERC can put precedent agreements with affiliates on the same footing as non-affiliate precedent agreements only so long as FERC finds "no evidence of self-dealing." The court found that the Commission ignored record evidence of self-dealing by Spire STL, including that the pipeline was not being built to serve increasing load demand and that there was no indication the new pipeline would lead to cost savings.If it was unnecessary for the Commission to look behind the precedent agreement under these circumstances, the court added, "it is hard to imagine a set of facts for which it would ever be required." In summary, the court said that it found no judicial authority upholding a FERC certificate order when the proposed pipeline was not meant to serve any new load demand, there was no finding that the pipeline would reduce costs, the application was supported by only a single precedent agreement, and the counterparty to such precedent agreement was a corporate affiliate.
On the day the court issued its decision, FERC issued a statement saying that the Commission is considering what action may be appropriate in light of the court's vacatur.FERC发言中引用Glick主席的一段话,即他想重审委员会评估州际天然气管道需求的方法,作为其2月18日
FERC established the Task Force pursuant to Section 209(b) of the Federal Power Act, a rarely-invoked provision that authorizes FERC to confer with state commissions "regarding the relationship between rate structures, costs, accounts, charges, practices, classifications, and regulations of public utilities subject to the jurisdiction" of such state commissions and FERC. The June 17 order noted that transmission-related issues were ripe for federal-state coordination and cooperation given the respective authority of federal and state regulators and the resulting processes that transmission developers must successfully navigate.
The Task Force will be comprised of all five FERC commissioners as well as representatives from 10 state commissions, who will serve one-year terms, not to exceed three consecutively, in an advisory capacity.FERC请求NARUC向FERC提交10国委代表提名表(NERUC区域有2名代表)至7月17日收到NARUC提名后,FERC将发布后续命令,列出工作队成员及其作用,并确定第一次公开会议的时间和地点。
617命令中还包含问题说明,列出工作队可能考虑的专题,包括:(1) 识别阻碍规划和开发实现联邦和州政策目标所必要的最优传播的障碍以及潜在解决方案探索国家自愿协调的机会以确定、规划并开发区域传输解决方案并(3)审查通过FERC辖区互连进程高效快捷地连接新资源的障碍,以及解决这些障碍的潜在方法特别工作组就这些题目开展工作后,可向FERC建议可能修改其条例并开发记录供FERC和/或国家委员会程序使用。
还发布
A例,政策说明突出新泽西公共事业局和PJMInternectiveL.L.C.之间的协议方法研究协议,由FERC2月16日批准并前题 政策声明规定,只要州或传输提供方相信委员会司法收费协议或其他协议中存在自愿协议障碍,FERC鼓励他们考虑归档消除这些障碍政策说明进一步规定,委员会工作人员可以作为州、传输提供方和其他利益攸关方考虑消除这些屏障时一般咨询。
Because two other coastal states in the PJM region, Maryland and Virginia, have adopted offshore wind targets as well, the Study Agreement may be precedent-setting, as utility commissions in those states work towards implementing their respective targets.
Under the State Agreement Approach, one or more state governmental entities in the PJM region authorized by their respective states may voluntarily agree to be responsible for the allocation of all costs of a proposed transmission expansion or enhancement that addresses state public policy requirements. Because the State Agreement Approach is designed to be a flexible mechanism, there is no pro forma service agreement. In its filing of the Study Agreement, PJM explained that the agreement is being used as a first step toward identifying a transmission project tailored to New Jersey's public policy goals.
The Study Agreement requires PJM to use its existing tariff process to convene a competitive proposal window to solicit transmission solutions, and provides notice that PJM will study and plan for New Jersey's public policy goals in the 2020-2021 Regional Transmission Expansion Plan cycle. Among other studies, PJM may perform analyses similar to a system impact or facilities study to assess the deliverability of offshore wind capacity at specific interconnection points.
The Study Agreement also establishes key dates and milestones, including: (1) PJM will endeavor to post preliminary recommendations from project proposals for the NJ BPU to consider by October 15, 2021!PJM将在2022年2月15日或前后向NJBU提供最后传输项目建议,但无论如何不晚于2022年9月1日and (3) no later than 70 days after receiving PJM's final recommendations, the NJ BPU will enter into a term sheet to be filed with FERC. The term sheet will identify the project(s) selected by the NJ BPU, if any, as well as the designated developer(s) and cost allocation methods for such project(s).
Although PJM will make recommendations to the NJ BPU regarding cost-effective transmission enhancements or expansions for inclusion in the Regional Transmission Expansion Plan pursuant to the Study Agreement,, the NJ BPU is not required to select a project proposal submitted as part of the competitive proposal process. The State Agreement Approach allows the NJ BPU to select different proposed transmission enhancements or expansions for inclusion in the Regional Transmission Expansion Plan. As such, in the February 16 order, FERC acknowledged that the selection of any project, developer or cost allocation method may be the subject of subsequent filings by PJM.
A copy of the February 16 order can be found here.
The deferral projects chosen for the two pilots will be identified through each utility's Grid Needs Assessment (Assessment) and Distribution Deferral Opportunity Report (Report). The Assessment and Report for each utility are currently utilized as part of the Distribution Investment Deferral Framework (DIDF), which is the annual process that the CPUC has used to procure DERs to avoid or defer utility distribution investments. As part of the existing Report, the utilities use three prioritization metrics to evaluate distribution investment deferral opportunities: cost effectiveness, forecast certainty, and market assessment. Opportunities that have the greatest chance of deferring investment for 10 years are ranked Tier 1, while opportunities with a lesser chance and the least chance are ranked Tier 2 and Tier 3, respectively. However, in the February 12 order, the CPUC noted that the DIDF Request for Offer (RFO) process has had several challenges, including under or over procurement of DERs and a lack of success procuring behind-the-meter resources. To evaluate the performance of the pilots, the CPUC authorized its Energy Division to invite party proposals on evaluation and off-ramp criteria and to hold a workshop on those proposals no later than May 12.
The CPUC's adoption of the two pilots is the result of a two-year process to refine the mechanisms for procuring DERs to meet near-term distribution grid needs—a process that included input from CPUC staff, the utilities and interested stakeholders. As part of that effort, the Partnership Pilot in particular coincides with the CPUC's approval of six guiding principles with respect to DER tariff design. Those principles include, inter alia, (a) ensuring a level playing field for DERs in comparison to traditional infrastructure investments, while also achieving technology neutrality across all DERs!调用DERs私人投资,包括现有DERs实现分配延迟收益,向支付分息者支付最小边际成本改善高成本效益DERs配置和利用分配延迟,以最大限度地节支支付者并鼓励创新。
The initial tariff budget for the Partnership Pilot is set at 85% of the cost cap, or deferred value, of the identified traditional distribution investment, in an effort to ensure savings to ratepayers. The CPUC approved three payment tiers as part of the tariff. The first tier, Deployment, will have an initial allocation of 20% of the tariff budget, and will require utilities to pay providers to install DER solutions and commit to dispatch in accordance with the terms of their contracts. Existing resources will not be eligible to receive a Deployment payment. For the second tier, Reservation, 30% of the tariff budget will be allocated!and under this tier, utilities would pay providers to reserve specific amounts of capacity and energy during specified timeframes. The CPUC allocated 50% of the tariff budget to Performance, the third tier, whereby utilities will pay providers when resources are dispatched according to their contracted criteria. Contracts awarded under the Partnership Pilot may last for up to 10 years, and existing resources will be eligible to receive both Reservation and Performance payments.
For the Partnership Pilot, the February 12 order requires the utilities to propose at least one Tier 1 deferral opportunity, as well as two Tier 2 or Tier 3 deferral opportunities, one of which should address a grid need forecasted to occur in four to five years. Such opportunities will be identified in the Report filed annually by the utility on August 15. Each utility is required to submit an advice letter to the CPUC by November 15, 2021 that identifies the proposed subscription periods for DER solutions, with the first such period scheduled to launch on January 15!信件中还须说明延期机会的最终成本上限 。在每次计划投资专用订阅期间,公共事业局将被要求接受DER提供方提供并执行合同,从出价满足或超过延期需求90%开始执行(接受触发),并必须结束签标期,提供等于需求120%时完成(允许20%采购比值 )。
A. Offshore Wind RFP
Gov.Cuomo公告正式开放纽约第二次近海风控项目OREC-RFP20-1(
As part of their proposals, OCREC-RFP requires offshore wind developers to submit a Port Infrastructure Investment Plan (PIIP) that includes at least one of the 11 prequalified New York ports to stage, construct, and manufacture key components, or coordinate operations and maintenance activities associated with the project. Developers' proposals must include a description of the proposed long-term use of the port facilities, including how it will compete with other facilities both regionally and globally. The state will provide up to $100 million in either reimbursable grant funding and up to $100 million in secured financing to assist developers of chosen projects with implementation of their respective PIIPs.开发商提交意向通知提交OREC-RFP截止日期为9月23日,2020年10月20日,如果完全授予,纽约将获得约9 000兆瓦离岸风能约一半的合同承诺Cuomo also announced the opening of two solicitations for land-based renewable energy projects by NYSERDA and the New York Power Authority (NYPA), respectively. NYERDA's solicitation, RECRFP20-1 (REC-RFP) seeks onshore, technologically-established renewable projects (such as solar photovoltaic facilities), which may be paired with energy storage, capable of producing a combined 1.6 million MWh or more. Selected projects will receive index-based or fixed-priced payments for their Renewable Energy Certificates (REC), similar to the payments to be made to project developers under the OREC-RFP. The deadline for submitting an eligibility application under REC-RFP is August 27, 2020, and the deadline for proposals is October 21, 2020.
NYPA's solicitation seeks utility-scale renewable projects that will produce an annual output of up to 2 million MWh or more. Developers of selected projects will enter into contracts to sell RECs, energy and/or capacity to NYPA or a designated entity, and are required to have a nameplate generation capacity that is 20-25 MW or 100 MW or greater. Submissions in response to NYPA's solicitation are due September 14, 2020.
Combined, the REC-RFP and the NYPA solicitation seek to procure sufficient renewable energy capacity to power nearly 500,000 homes. Together with the OREC-RFP, these solicitations are a significant endeavor by the state of New York to further progress towards the goal established by the CLCPA of meeting 70% of its electricity needs from renewable resources by 2030.
State regulation of net metering may be a thing of the past if a recent petition filed by the New England Ratepayers Association ("NERA") with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") is granted. NERA's petition requests that FERC (1) find that there is exclusive federal jurisdiction over wholesale energy sales from generation sources located on the customer side of the retail meter (such as rooftop solar facilities), and (2) order that the rates for such sales be priced in accordance with the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 ("PURPA") or the Federal Power Act ("FPA"), as applicable.
The NERA petition will be highly controversial. Hence, this post should be of interest to a wide range of market participants, including owners of behind the meter generation, utilities, participants in wholesale and retail electricity markets, and state commissions and policymakers.
Under a net metering arrangement, the amount of electricity that a customer produces is usually netted by the utility, on a monthly basis, against the amount of electricity that the customer consumes. NERA's petition highlights that, in these instances, utilities may credit a customer for its produced electricity at the same retail rate that the utility sold electricity to the customer.This rate is set by the state regulatory commission and may be approximately four times higher than the prevailing wholesale rate. NERA's petition specifically asks FERC to declare its jurisdiction over electricity sales from rooftop solar facilities and other distributed generation located on the customer side of the retail meter whenever (i) the output of such generators exceeds the customer's demand or (ii) the output from such generators is designed to bypass the customer's load, and is therefore not used to serve demand behind the customer's meter. In each of these circumstances, NERA's petition argues, electricity is being delivered to the local utility for resale to the utility's retail customers, making the transactions wholesale sales in interstate commerce subject to FERC's exclusive jurisdiction.
NERA's petition challenges FERC's 2001 decision in MidAmerican Energy and its 2009 decision in SunEdison addressing the circumstance in which a customer both consumes electricity sold by a utility and delivers power generated on-site to the utility. In MidAmerican Energy, the Commission found that no sale of electricity occurs when (i) a utility customer installs generation and delivers power to the utility, (ii) the utility nets any power delivered against power consumed by the customer during a monthly billing cycle, and (iii) the customer consumes more power than it delivered during such billing cycle.sunEdison 中,委员会扩展其在sunEnergy 中的发现范围为净计量安排,即客户零售表后安装的生成器由第三方拥有,如房顶太阳能开发商。
质疑委员会在MidAEnergy 和sunEdison 中的调查结果,NERA请求点d.C电路2010年对Se卡尔Edison v.FERC finding that FERC's reliance on netting periods to determine whether sales of electricity occurred with regard to station power consumed by a generator was "rather arbitrary and unprincipled – certainly as a jurisdictional standard."[1] NERA's petition also challenges the principle of netting approved by the Commission in MidAmerican Energy and SunEdison by arguing that, even when electricity is returned in kind in connection with a wholesale sale, the Commission has recognized that the returned energy does not diminish FERC's jurisdiction over the wholesale sale in the first instance.
Because the petition raises threshold questions of federal jurisdiction, the Commission's decision will likely have serious implications for every state net metering program, with the exception of those portions of the country not served by the interstate electric grid (i.e., Alaska, Hawaii and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas-controlled grid). If FERC grants the petition, interested parties, including state commissions, would almost certainly file requests for rehearing with the Commission, and, if denied, seek review of the order from a U.S.电路法院.
NERA