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EPSA SEEKS FERC CLARIFICATION IN SIERRA PACIFIC CASE ON EXCEPTION TO ORDER 890
Sunset of exception to non-discriminatory transmission must be strictly enforced
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) today filed a request for clarification with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in a case involving a request from Sierra Pacific Resources, conditionally approved by FERC last month, for an exception to FERC's important non-discriminatory power transmission rules.
On July 13, 2007, FERC issued an order allowing Sierra Pacific’s operating companies in Nevada to add an unprecedented new transmission service called "Capacity Based Network Service" that provides the utility with preferential status that will harm Nevada consumers by denying them electricity from EPSA members and other wholesale suppliers in a fast-growing region of the country.
"To its credit, FERC set a termination date of July 12, 2010, on allowing Sierra Pacific to reserve transmission service in a manner that otherwise would be a violation of FERC's landmark Order 890 issued unanimously earlier this year," said John E. Shelk, EPSA's president and CEO. "Given the importance of Order 890, and the need to prevent other utilities from undermining it, EPSA is merely asking FERC to make it clear that Sierra Pacific is prohibited from taking service under this exception after July 12, 2010, even if a request is filed before that date," Shelk explained.
In today's filing with FERC, EPSA's request states,
"EPSA agrees with the Commission that the exception granted to Nevada Companies has the potential to significantly and adversely affect the market and other market participants. Most importantly, the exception from designating network resources creates and allows continued reliance by the utility on short-term purchases which is directly at odds with the goal of ensuring that the Commission's open access transmission policies do not disincent long-term contracting."
Shelk continued, "Sierra Pacific's seemingly technical request has to be viewed in light of its failure to give competitive suppliers in the state and the region a fair opportunity to offer their existing and planned generation resources to serve Nevada consumers. Instead, the utility hides behind the supply constraints it created by failing to conduct an open, competitive procurement to justify placing a multi-billion dollar self-build program on the backs of Nevada ratepayers. To add insult to injury, Sierra Pacific now wants to lean on independent suppliers until its no-bid plants are ready, but only in the short run on unfavorable terms, including this preferential transmission service."
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Nevada Clarification
CONTACT: JOHN SHELK
(202) 349-0154or 703-472-8660
EPSA is the national trade association representing competitive power suppliers, including generators and marketers. These suppliers, who account for nearly 40 percent of the installed generating capacity in the United States, provide reliable and competitively priced electricity from environmentally responsible facilities serving global power markets. EPSA seeks to bring the benefits of competition to all power customers.