FERC-516E, (NOPR in RM05-5-031) Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff Filings

Docket RM05-5-025, -026, & -027. FERC is amending its regulations under the Federal Power Act (FPA) to incorporate by reference into its regulations as mandatory enforceable requirements, with certain enumerated exceptions, the latest version (Version 003.2) of the Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB), filed with the Commission as a package on December 8, 2017 (December 8 Filing), and includes minor clarifications and updates submitted by NAESB on June 5, 2019, and July 23, 2019. The WEQ Version 003.2 Standards build upon the standards included in the WEQ Version 003.1 Standards and include, in their entirety, the modifications submitted to the Commission in WEQ Version 003.1, which were the subject of an earlier notice of proposed rulemaking, with the addition of certain revisions and corrections. In this final rule, the Commission will not adopt the NOPR proposal to incorporate by reference NAESB’s latest version of the WEQ-006 Manual Time Error Correction Business Practice Standards. Version 003.2 of NAESB’s WEQ-006 Manual Time Error Correction Business Practice Standards proposes to retire the Time Error Correction Business Practice Standard, which have been the subject of a separate notice of proposed rulemaking. As explained below, the proposal to retire the Manual Time Error Correction Business Practice Standard has not been adequately supported by NAESB. Additionally, this final rule updates NAESB’s Smart Grid Standards (set out in Standards WEQ-018 and WEQ-019) that the Commission listed for informational purposes in Part 2 of the Commission’s Regulations, to match the latest iteration of those standards. These revisions update earlier versions of the WEQ-018 and WEQ-019 Standards that the Commission previously listed in Part 2 of our regulations as non-mandatory guidance at 18 CFR 2.27 in Order No. 676-H. Finally, the Commission is incorporating by reference the WEQ-022 Electric Industry Registry (EIR) In general. The Federal Power Act Section 205 requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure that the rates and charges for the wholesale sale of electric energy are just and reasonable. Section 205 also requires that the rules and regulations affecting or pertaining to the rates and charges for the wholesale sale of electric energy be just and reasonable. Industry-wide business practice standards help the industry achieve increased levels of efficiency. The WEQ Version 003.1 and Version 003.2 Business Practice Standards build on the Commission’s work in preventing undue discrimination and preference in transmission service (in Order Nos. 890, 890-A, 890-B and 890-C, and includes six OASIS-related standards that NAESB modified in response to directives and guidance provided in Order Nos. 676-E, 676-H, and 890). The WEQ Version 003.2 Standards include modifications and reservations to existing standards and newly developed standards made to support the short-term preemption process (WEQ-001-25) and the merger of like transmission reservations (WEQ-001-24) prescribed in the OASIS Suite of Standards. The WEQ Version 003.2 Standards also included other changes that were made to support consistency with NERC Reliability Standards. NAESB made these changes as a result of continuing coordination with NERC regarding dynamic tagging and pseudo-ties, and the finalization of the transition of the industry registry tool from NERC to NAESB. NAESB also made additional changes to seven suites of the WEQ Business Practices to ensure the standards accurately reflect revisions to the NERC Reliability Standards. In addition, NAESB made changes to support market operator functionalities to support the full use of the market operator as a separate role within the EIR and on e-Tags.

The latest form for FERC-516E, (NOPR in RM05-5-031) Electric Rate Schedules and Tariff Filings expires 2023-04-30 and can be found here.