United States of America Before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
ISO New England Inc., New England Power Pool Participants Committee
Docket No. ER15-257-000
Motion for leave to Answer and Answer to Protest of the New England States Committee on Electricity
Pursuant to Rules 212 and 213 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“Commission” or “FERC”) Rules of Practice and Procedure (the “Rules”), 18 C.F.R. §§ 385.212 and 385.213 (2014), the New England States Committee on Electricity (“NESCOE”) hereby moves for leave to answer, and submits this answer, in response to the November 21, 2014 protest filed by the New England Power Generators Association, Inc. (“NEPGA”) in this proceeding (the “Generators’ Protest”).[1] NEPGA protested the October 31, 2014 filing by ISO New England Inc. (“ISO-NE”) and the New England Power Pool Participants Committee of market rule revisions to integrate price-responsive demand resources (“PRD Resources”) into ISO-NE’s reserve markets (the “Reserve Markets Filing”).[2]
- MOTION FOR LEAVE TO ANSWER
Pursuant to Rule 212, NESCOE seeks leave to answer the Generators’ Protest. While the Commission’s Rules generally prohibit answers to protests,[3] the Commission has discretion to accept answers such as this one where it provides information that assists the Commission in its decision-making process.[4] NESCOE’s response to the Generators’ Protest meets this standard because it provides the Commission with a more complete and accurate record upon which to base its decision in this complex matter. NESCOE’s answer corrects inaccuracies in the Generators’ Protest relative to NEPGA’s claim regarding the application of Electric Power Supply Association v. FERC[5] (“EPSA”) to the Reserve Markets Filing. Accordingly, NESCOE submits that there is good cause for the Commission to accept this answer.
- ANSWER
Citing to EPSA, the Generators’ Protest states that the Commission should find that PRD Resources “are ineligible to participate as supply-side resources in the Forward Reserve Market and are ineligible to provide Operating Reserves.”[6] The Generators’ Protest recounts a complaint filed by NEPGA on November 14, 2014 against ISO-NE (the “Complaint”).[7] In the Complaint, NEPGA asks the Commission to require ISO-NE (i) to disqualify certain demand response resources from participating in the next Forward Capacity Auction, and (ii) to exclude these resources from future participation in the Forward Capacity Market.[8] The Generators’ Protest states that the “Complaint raises and more fully presents the same question of the applicability of EPSA to Commission-jurisdictional wholesale markets as is presented by the proposal to allow supply-side demand response resources to participate in the Forward Reserve Market.”[9] NEPGA asks the Commission not to make a determination on the Reserve Markets Filing until it has made a decision on the Complaint.[10]
NESCOE has submitted on this day a protest to the Complaint (the “NESCOE Protest”).[11] Given the nexus that NEPGA draws between the Complaint and the Generators’ Protest—and NEPGA’s express reliance on the Complaint to support its claims against the Reserve Markets Filing— this answer hereby incorporates by reference the arguments made in the NESCOE Protest.[12] The Commission should have the benefit of a complete record in this proceeding, which should reflect the shortcomings and deficiencies that warrant dismissal of the Complaint and, in turn, any claims made by NEPGA in this proceeding that rely upon the same flawed rationale.
- CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated herein, NESCOE respectfully requests that the Commission accept this answer and reject NEPGA’s claims against the Reserve Markets Filing on the basis of the EPSA ruling.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Jason R. Marshall
Jason R. Marshall
Senior Counsel
New England States Committee on Electricity
655 Longmeadow Street
Longmeadow, MA 01106
Tel: (617) 913-0342
Email: jasonmarshall@nescoe.com
Date: December 4, 2014