Filing a Notice of Change in Status (When, What & Why)

When to File

The Commission has identified the types of changes a Seller is required to report in 18 C.F.R. § 35.42. Specifically, section 35.42 states the following:

Sec. 35.42 Change in Status Reporting Requirements

• (a) As a condition of obtaining and retaining market-based rate authority, a Seller must timely report to the Commission any change in status that would reflect a departure from the characteristics the Commission relied upon in granting market-based rate authority. A change in status includes, but is not limited to, the following:
  • (1) Ownership or control of generation capacity that results in net increases of 100 MW or more, or of inputs to electric power production, or ownership, operation or control of transmission facilities, or
    (2) Affiliation with any entity not disclosed in the application for market-based rate authority that owns or controls generation facilities or inputs to electric power production, affiliation with any entity not disclosed in the application for market-based rate authority that owns, operates or controls transmission facilities, affiliation with any entity that has a franchised service area, or is an ultimate upstream affiliate.
• (b) Any change in status subject to paragraph (a) of this section must be filed quarterly. Power sales contracts with future delivery are reportable once the physical delivery has begun. Sellers shall file Notices of Change in Status in accordance with the following schedule: For the period from January 1 through March 31, file by April 30; for the period from April 1 through June 30, file by July 31; for the period July 1 through September 30, file by October 31; and for the period October 1 through December 31, file by January 31. Failure to timely file a Notice of Change in Status constitutes a tariff violation.

This means that a Seller must make a filing when it or its affiliates acquire generation causing a cumulative net increase of 100 MWs or more.  Additionally, a Seller must file if it becomes an owner, subsidiary, or affiliate of another company which causes a cumulative net increase of 100 MWs or more.  Finally, a Seller must file a Notice of Change in Status in any instance where the facts that the Commission relied upon in granting that Seller its market-based rate authority change, including a new affiliation with an ultimate upstream affiliate. 

When Not to File

There are instances when a Seller does not need to file a Notice of Change in Status.  For instance, a Seller does not need to file a Notice of Change in Status when it divests generation, or when it becomes affiliated with an entity not in the energy industry (unless the entity would be a new ultimate upstream affiliate) or with generation not in the U.S. or a first tier balancing authority area to the U.S. 

Also, it is important to note that the Commission does not differentiate between a material and non-material changes in status.  If the Seller has not had a triggering event which requires it to file a Notice of Change in Status, the Commission will either ask the Seller to withdraw its filing, or will treat the submittal as a material change in status.

When to Submit to the MBR Database

A Seller is required to make a monthly submission updating the MBR Database to the extent that there are any changes to its previously submitted information.   The submission must be made by the 15th day of the month following the change.  The submission must be prepared in conformance with the instructions posted on the Commission's website.

What to File and Submit

If a Seller is required to file a Notice of Change in Status, it is also important to understand what is required and allowed to be submitted into the MBR Database.

Following a successful submission to the MBR Database with any of the changes described below, the system will generate and send an Acceptance email with an Asset Appendix Serial Number.  This Serial Number must be included in the Notice of Change in Status filing with the Commission.

If a Seller is notifying the Commission of an increase in generation, it has the ability to submit the indicative screen tables (indicative_mss and indicative_pss tables) into the MBR Database to show that it continues to meet the Commission’s requirements regarding horizontal market power.  Sellers should also either update any existing relationship(s) in the entities_to_genassets table or submit a new table, whichever is most representative of the change, prior to filing with the Commission.

If a Seller is notifying the Commission about a change regarding an ultimate upstream affiliation, it should either update the existing relationship in the entities_to_entities table or submit a new table, whichever is most representative of the change, prior to filing with the Commission.

If a Seller is notifying the Commission about a change regarding its pertinent assets, it should either update existing relationship(s) in the entities_to_genassets, entities_to_vertical_assets, or entities_to_ppas table(s) or submit new table(s), whichever is most representative of the change, prior to filing with the Commission.