18 Cfr 36.1

§ 2.20

18 CFR Ch. I (4–1–17 Edition)

and the methodology used in preparing
the plan; and
(3) Is filed with the Secretary of the
Commission.

minimum components of a good faith
request for transmission services:
(1) The identity, address, telephone
number, and facsimile number of the
party requesting transmission services,
and the same information, if different,
for the party’s contact person or persons.
(2) A statement that the party requesting transmission services is, or
will be upon commencement of service,
an entity eligible to request transmission under sections 211(a) and 213(a)
of the FPA.
(3) A statement that the request for
transmission services is intended to
satisfy the ‘‘request for transmission
services’’ requirement under sections
211(a) and 213(a) of the FPA, and that
the request is not a request for mandatory retail wheeling prohibited under
section 212(h) of the FPA.
(4) The party requesting transmission
services should specify the character
and nature of the services requested.
Some types of service may require
more detailed information than others.
Where point-to-point service is requested, the party requesting transmission services should specify the anticipated point(s) of receipt to the
transmitting utility’s grid and the anticipated point(s) of delivery from the
transmitting utility’s grid. Where a
party requesting transmission services
requests additional flexibility to schedule multiple resources to meet its
needs (e.g., network service), the request for services should contain a description of the requested services in
sufficient detail to permit the transmitting utility to model the additional
services on its transmission system.
(5) The names of any other parties
likely to provide transmission service
to deliver electric energy to, and receive electric energy from, the transmitting utility’s grid in connection
with the requested transmission services.
(6) The proposed dates for initiating
and terminating the requested transmission services.
(7) The total amount of transmission
capacity being requested.
(8) To the extent it is known or can
be estimated, a description of the ‘‘expected transaction profile’’ including
load factor data describing the hourly

[Order 481–A, 53 FR 15804, May 4, 1988]

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§ 2.20 Good faith requests for transmission services and good faith responses by transmitting utilities.
(a) General Policy. (1) This Statement
of Policy is adopted in furtherance of
the goals of sections 211(a) and 213(a) of
the Federal Power Act, as amended and
added by the Energy Policy Act of 1992.
(2) Under section 211(a), the Commission may issue an order requiring a
transmitting utility to provide transmission services (including any enlargement of transmission capacity
necessary to provide such services)
only if an applicant has made a request
for transmission services to the transmitting utility that would be the subject of such order at least 60 days prior
to its filing of an application for such
order. The requirement in section
211(a) that an applicant make such a
request will be met if such an applicant
has, pursuant to section 213(a) of the
FPA, made a good faith request to a
transmitting utility to provide wholesale transmission services and requests
specific rates and charges, and other
terms and conditions.
(3) It is the Commission’s intention
to apply the standards of this Statement of Policy when determining
whether and when a valid ‘‘good faith’’
request for service was made.
(4) It is the Commission’s intention
to encourage an open exchange of information that exhibits a reasonable
degree of specificity and completeness
between the party requesting transmission services and the transmitting
utility.
(5) The Commission intends to apply
this Statement of Policy so as to carry
out Congress’ objective that, subject to
appropriate terms and conditions and
just and reasonable rates, in conformance with section 212 of the FPA, access to the electric transmission system for the purposes of wholesale
transactions be more widely available.
(b) The Components of a good faith request. The Commission generally considers the following to constitute the

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Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

§ 2.20
(c) Components of a Reply to a Good
Faith Request. The Commission generally considers the following to constitute the minimum components of a
reply to a good faith request for transmission services under section 213(a):
(1) Unless the parties agree to a different time frame, the transmitting
utility must acknowledge the request
within 10 days of receipt. The acknowledgement must include a date by which
a response will be sent to the party requesting transmission services and a
statement of any fees associated with
responding to the request (e.g., initial
studies).
(2) The transmitting utility may ask
the applicant to provide clarification
of only the information needed to
evaluate and process a ‘‘good faith’’ request. If the person requesting transmission services believes the transmitting utility is attempting to frustrate
the process by making excessive requests for clarification, it may raise
this issue if, and when, it files a request for a section 211 order with the
Commission.
(3) The transmitting utility must respond to a request within 60 days of receipt or some other mutually agreed
upon response date. If both parties
agree to an alternative schedule, the
agreement must be in writing and
signed by both parties.
(4) If the transmitting utility determines that it can provide all the requested services from existing capacity, it should respond by offering the
party requesting transmission services
an executable service agreement that
at a minimum contains the following
information:
(i) A description of the proposed
transmission rate and any other costs.
It is not necessary for the proposed
service agreement to contain a fully
developed cost-of-service. However, the
agreement should explain the basis for
the charges for each component of
service, including the unbundled components of any transmission rate as
well as any other charges.
(ii) The proposed service agreement
should explicitly describe all of the applicable terms and conditions of the
transmission services provided under
the agreement.

quantities of power and energy the
party requesting transmission services
would expect to deliver to the transmitting utility’s grid at relevant
points of interconnection. In the event
delivery is to multiple points within
the transmitting utility’s electric control area, the requestor should describe, to the extent it is known or can
be estimated, the expected load (over a
given duration of time) at each such
delivery point.
(9) Whether firm or non-firm service
is being requested. Where a party requests non-firm service, it should
specify the priority of service it is willing to accept, or the conditions under
which it is willing to accept interruption or curtailment, if known.
(10) A statement as to whether the
request is being made in response to a
solicitation and a copy of the solicitation if publicly available. This will
help the transmitting utility determine whether requests for transmission service are duplicative or mutually exclusive of requests filed by
other parties.
(11) The proposed rates, terms and
conditions for the requested transmission services as required by section
213(a). It is not necessary for the requestor to propose a specific numerical
rate. Rather, a party requesting transmission services can fulfill the rates,
terms and conditions requirement by
specifying a rate methodology (e.g.,
embedded or incremental cost) or by
referencing an existing formula rate,
transmission tariff, or transmission
contract. The validity of the good faith
request will not depend on the rates
proposed by the party requesting transmission services. This requirement is
not intended to allow utilities to delay
responses to requests for transmission
services, or to deny requests for transmission services on the basis of an
overly rigid or technical approach to
the ‘‘rates, terms and conditions’’ element of the request.
(12) Any other information to facilitate the expeditious processing of its
request. Such information will improve
the negotiation process, reduce costs,
and will improve chances to arrange
the requested transmission without resorting to section 211 application procedures before the Commission.

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§ 2.21

18 CFR Ch. I (4–1–17 Edition)

(iii) The transmitting utility should
accompany the proposed service agreement with a clear statement of the
time during which the offer to provide
the transmission services will remain
open. An open agreement offer may obligate the seller while imposing no
countervailing obligation on the purchaser, and an unexecuted contract potentially ties up transmission facilities, thus jeopardizing the availability
and price for subsequent requests that
would use the same facilities. However,
at a minimum, a transmitting utility
should permit the party requesting
transmission services sufficient time
to review service agreements and coordinate multiple stages of joint transactions.
(5) If the transmitting utility determines that it must construct additional facilities or modify existing facilities to provide all or part of the requested services, it must:
(i) Identify the specific constraints
and their duration that prevent it from
providing all the requested services and
explain how these constraints prevent
it from providing all the requested
services or the desired level of firmness.
(ii) Provide to the applicant all studies, computer input and output data,
planning, operating and other documents, work papers, assumptions and
any other material that forms the
basis for determining the constraints.
(iii) Offer to the applicant an executable agreement under which the applicant agrees to reimburse the transmitting utility for all costs of performing
any studies necessary to determine
what changes to the transmitting utility’s grid are needed to overcome the
constraint and provide the requested
services, their cost, and the estimated
time to complete them. At a minimum,
the proposed agreement should contain
the following:
(A) An estimate of the cost of the
study and the time required to complete it, and
(B) A commitment to supply to the
party requesting transmission services
all computer input and output data,
planning, operating and other documents, work papers, assumptions and
any other material used to perform the
study.

(iv) If a transmitting utility determines that it can provide part but not
all of the requested services without
building new facilities, it should inform the applicant of any portion of
the requested services that can be performed without constructing additional facilities or modifying existing
facilities. In effect, the transmitting
utility may be able to treat such a request as two separate transactions—
one for service on existing facilities
and the other as a request involving expansion decisions. Furthermore, where
there are alternative, less expensive
means of satisfying all or a portion of
a transmission request, the Commission expects the transmitting utility to
explore such alternatives (e.g., redispatching certain generating units to
alleviate a constraint).
[58 FR 38969, July 21, 1993]

§ 2.21 Regional Transmission Groups.
(a) General policy. The Commission
encourages
Regional
Transmission
Groups (RTGs) as a means of enabling
the market for electric power to operate in a more competitive and efficient
way. The Commission believes that
RTGs can provide a means of coordinating regional planning of the transmission system and assuring that system capabilities are always adequate
to meet system demands. RTG agreements that contain components that
satisfy paragraphs (b) and (c) of this
section generally will be considered to
be just, reasonable, and not unduly discriminatory or preferential under the
Federal Power Act (FPA). The Commission encourages RTG agreements
that contain as much detail as possible
in all of the components listed, particularly if the RTG participants will
be seeking Commission deference to decisions reached under an RTG agreement.
(b) Organizational components. (1) An
RTG agreement should provide for
broad membership and, at a minimum,
allow any entity that is subject to, or
eligible to apply for, an order under
section 211 of the FPA to be a member.
An RTG agreement should encompass
an area of sufficient size and contiguity to enable members to provide
transmission services in a reliable, efficient, and competitive manner.

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