Ferc Rejects Transmission Rate Incentives For 22 Commonwealth Edison Grid Projects

摘要

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday denied a petition by Commonwealth Edison and sister utility Commonwealth Edison of Indiana for incentive rates for 22 transmission projects in their service territories. FERC issued a statement explaining that the utilities "did not illustrate a nexus between the incentive sought and the investment being made." The commission said the projects "are activities undertaken in the ordinary course of business in keeping with good utility management practices." The Energy Policy Act of 2005 instructed FERC to use rate incentives to encourage the development of more transmission. The commission has approved incentives for numerous projects, sometimes over the objections of Commissioners Suedeen Kelly and Jon Wellinghoff and state officials. Kelly and Wellinghoff have questioned whether many of the incentives were truly needed to overcome obstacles. This time, it was Commissioner Philip Moeller dissenting. He suggested the other commissioners were being "excessively rigid" in their criteria for incentives "at a time when significant investment is needed in transmission infrastructure."