It Lives: AEP Files Complaint Against MISO Over SECA Charges Levied On Defunct Companies
October 11,2017
American Electric Power Service Corporation, on behalf of its operating company affiliates that are transmission owners ("TOs") in the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. ("PJM") region (together "AEP"), pursuant to Section 206 of the Federal Power Act ("FPA") and Rule 206 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("Commission"), filed a Complaint at FERC against the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. ("MISO") for, "failing to provide AEP and other PJM TOs with more than $4.8 million of SECA, a non-bypassable surcharge 'designed to recover all of the revenues lost due to the elimination of through and out rates on December 1, 2004' in the MISO/PJM region."
AEP alleged that in a recent refund report, MISO, "for the first time," reported that:
• Schedule 22 of MISO's Open Access Transmission, Energy and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff (“Tariff”) allocated SECA charges to three load serving entities ("LSEs") – Nicor Energy, L.L.C ("Nicor Energy"), Engage Energy America LLC ("Engage"), and The New Power Company ("NPC") – that were out of business before being allocated SECA charges;
• MISO failed to bill and collect the allocated SECA charges (as required by MISO's Tariff);
• MISO never reallocated the SECA charges of the three defunct LSEs;
• MISO has not compensated AEP and the other PJM TOs for the misallocated SECA charges.
"After discovering this information during the preparation of the Refund Report, AEP and a group of PJM TOs asked MISO to provide the revenue from the unbilled SECA charges. MISO refused. Accordingly, for the reasons described more fully below, AEP respectfully requests that the Commission order MISO to pay AEP (and the other PJM TOs) the outstanding, currently due and owing SECA obligations (with interest)," AEP said