FERC deals potential blow to renewables with PURPA overhaul cheered by utilities

摘要

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved an order July 16 that gives states far more leeway in setting the rates that utilities are required to pay under a decades-old law aimed at boosting small renewable and cogenerating facilities. The rule largely reflects a contentious set of changes proposed in September 2019 to how FERC implements the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (RM19-15). Utilities applauded the final revisions as common-sense reforms that will shield customers from overpaying for electricity while recognizing the falling cost of renewable energy. But clean energy advocates and one partially dissenting commissioner asserted the overhaul runs contrary to congressional intent and will stymie small-scale renewable energy development.