FERC Filings
EPSA's Joint Protest on Alliant Petition
Executive Summary
Joint Parties urge the Commission to deny Alliant’s petition because Alliant has failed to demonstrate that it meets the criteria set forth in PURPA § 210(m) for relief from its obligation to purchase the output of QFs where the statutory requirements have otherwise been satisfied. As discussed below, Alliant’s petition is deficient on its face given Alliant’s failure to address all the required criteria, particularly the requirement that the Commission find that the affected QFs have access to long-term energy and capacity markets. The Commission cannot waive IPL’s and WPL’s PURPA obligations until it can confirm that all required statutory conditions are met, and Alliant’s petition does not provide the Commission with determinative showings or evidence that all elements of the statutory requirements are met in its service territory. Also, Joint Parties urge the Commission to use this opportunity to clarify how PURPA § 210(m) will be implemented. First, contrary to Alliant’s assertions, the fact that the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (“Midwest ISO”) is a FERC-approved RTO is not sufficient to meet the statutory requirements that require specific evidence demonstrating that meaningful opportunities exist for QFs in the IPL and WPL market areas to sell capacity. Second, the Commission should clarify that the statute requires a determination on a utility-specific service territory basis and, therefore, any determination made with respect to Alliant’s petition, whether granted or denied, would not constitute a finding as to whether other utility-specific service territories (such as those that are in the same RTO) would or would not qualify for waiver of the mandatory purchase obligation.