Court hears dispute over utilities being freed from new PURPA contracts in four markets

摘要

The American Forest & Paper Association made its case in federal court last week against the idea that utilities in the four most-developed power markets can be freed of the obligation to sign more contracts for power from cogeneration operations and small generators above 20 MW in size. AFPA told the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission should have been willing to consider evidence that regional transmission organizations are too dominated by their utilities and are not truly competitive for long-term power sales. Utilities have long chafed at the obligation to buy power from qualifying facilities, or QFs, under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. But under authority of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, FERC decided in 2006 to allow utilities to avoid additional PURPA contracts in the PJM Interconnection, ISO New England, the New York Independent System Operator and the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator. These RTOs have Day-2 markets, with not only auction-based real-time markets but also day-ahead markets.