FERC Affirms Texas Transmission Developer’s Shared Control Center Won’t Result in FERC Jurisdiction
May 23,2016
FERC granted a petition for a declaratory order from LS Power Development, LLC and Cross Texas Transmission, LLC which confirms that the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) transmission system, and electric utilities, generators, retail electric providers, and transmission and distribution service providers participating in the ERCOT market (ERCOT Market Participants) that are not currently subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction under Part II of the Federal Power Act (the FPA), will not become subject to that jurisdiction as the result of the provision by employees of LSP Development, Cross Texas and/or their affiliates that are located in ERCOT of transmission system operations services, corporate services, and engineering services (together, the Control Center Services) to affiliated transmission providers in other regions of the United States.
"Based on Petitioners’ description of the Control Center services, such services do not result in the transmission or sale for resale of electric energy between ERCOT and the rest of the continental United States (including any commingling of electric energy between ERCOT and the rest of the United States). Accordingly, we find that the provision by Petitioners’ employees of such services will not affect the jurisdictional status quo of ERCOT or ERCOT Market Participants that are not currently subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction as 'public utilities' under the FPA," FERC said