FERC Filings
MOTION TO INTERVENE AND COMMENT OF THE ELECTRIC POWER SUPPLY ASSOCIATION-RTO West-Docket s No. RT01-35-000, RT01-15-000
The Commission Should Defer Ruling On The Independence Of TransConnect Until The RTO West Tariff Is Finalized
EPSA has two problems with the TransConnect filing. First, it is not clear what functions TransConnect will perform vis a vis RTO West. As the Commission found in the recent Commonwealth Edison order dealing with this same issue, the issue of what functions are performed by an RTO/ISO and what functions will be performed by an ITC/RTO are not always set out with the requisite clarity. Such clarity is essential, however, for the reliable and efficient operation of the market. Indeed, without such clarity the possibility exists that the market will be balkanized.
Until the functions of the ITC are clarified, the Commission cannot rule on the independence of the ITC. There is simply no context by which to determine that the ITC will be independent from market participants because it is not clear what transmission functions the ITC will perform and thus what functions will be independent from market participants. Moreover, compounding the independence question, ITC contemplates that individual market participants, including the Applicants to the extent they are market participants, may have an active ownership interest in the ITC. Market Participants, and the Applicants to the extent they are market participants, may hold up to five percent of the total Class A stock of TransConnect for a period of five years. While TransConnect asserts that it has met the safe harbor provisions of Order No. 2000, active ownership raises questions of the independence of the ITC from market participants. As such, with the active ownership interest in the ITC, the Commission must not find that TransConnect meets the independence standard of Order 2000 until its functions and the relationship between RTO West and the ITC are clearly spelled out.
That said, even if the ITC satisfies the independence criteria, the Commission needs to closely scrutinize the functions the ITC will perform because it certainly will not be neutral with respect to certain functions, such as transmission planning. The ITC will inherently favor transmission solutions over generation or demand side solutions to meet customer demands. Accordingly, even if the ITC is independent, RTO West or perhaps a broader interconnection wide entity, and not the ITC, should have authority over transmission planning.