NEPPA Legislative Committee in High Gear on Capacity Market Issues

In This Issue:

• NEPPA Legislative Committee in High Gear on Energy Bills:  
• Energy Policy: House Subcommittee marks-up energy bill; full Committee consideration in the fall; GAO study, no "Electric Resource Choice" amendment included;
• Energy Policy: Senate Committee marks up broad energy bill, aiming to finish work before adjourning for summer recess; 
• Tax Policy: Senate Finance Passes Bipartisan Tax Extenders Bill, including renewable incentives; Grid Security: Senate May Consider Cyber Information Sharing bill; 

The last several months have seen a flurry of communications activity by the NEPPA Legislative Committee, as the 114th Congress began action on the first broad energy bills debated since 2009.  The commitment by House and Senate leaders to develop bipartisan measures provided the first real legislative opportunity for NEPPA members to promote a "fix" to the region’s Forward Capacity Market problems. 

NEPPA members and their attorneys were part of a small working group that developed an "Electric Resource Choice" amendment (also called self supply) that APPA and its members in organized markets are actively lobbying. The amendment would do the following: 

A) In RTO regions that have not yet implemented a mandatory capacity market (MISO, SPP, CAISO), the legislation would prevent such a move unless there is unanimous support by the states in the region. Currently, the decision by the RTO to implement a mandatory capacity market can be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) regardless of whether states, which have jurisdiction over retail rates, support such a move;

B) In regions that have already adopted a mandatory capacity market (NE-ISO, ISO-NY, PJM), the legislation would prevent the RTO from adopting or continuing to implement existing rates (or practices or procedures affecting rates) that impair the ability of a load-serving entity to meet its capacity obligations through a resource it owns, builds, controls, or for which it has a contract for capacity.  

Representatives of the NEPPA Legislative Committee came to Washington, D.C. June 17-18 to meet with their congressional delegation, and with key House and Senate energy committee staff, advocating inclusion of the Electric Resource Choice amendment. The meetings included those Members of Congress that sit on the energy committee in each chamber: Reps. Peter Welch (D-VT) and Joe Kennedy (D-MA), and Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Angus King (I-ME). 

The visits went well, but also underscored the complexity of the issues and conflicting information coming from generators, RTOs and others. 

Since then, the Committee has convened by conference call every two weeks or so, under the leadership of Committee Chair Mike Kirkwood, Pascoag Utility District, to get legislative updates from Morgan Meguire, share information about regional efforts to address capacity market defects, and strategize about "next steps." 

While NEPPA has not yet had success in getting a congressional sponsor for the "Electric Resource Choice" amendment, the Legislative Committee will use the upcoming congressional recess (Aug. 7 - Sept. 4) to continue meeting with delegation Members on this critical issue. 

To read the complete legislative update including the following topics, click the links below: