Commissioner James Danly Statement
August 10, 2020
Docket No. ER20-1917-001
I concur with the decision to accept, suspend, and set for hearing and settlement judge procedures the Reliability Must-Run Service Agreement (RMR Agreement) between EF Oxnard LLC and the California Independent System Operator Corporation (CAISO). I write to express the same concerns in this case that I expressed in my concurrence in Greenleaf Energy Unit 2, LLC.[1]
As I wrote there, RMR agreements cause markets to fail and should only be used as a last resort.[2] It is unclear on the record before us whether this RMR Agreement is a last resort. The issue is not that CAISO cannot justify this RMR Agreement; it is that the Commission-approved tariff does not require it to do so.
I would require greater justification for the reliability need that drives CAISO’s decision than the one paragraph summary submitted here.[3] CAISO, however, appears to have again satisfied the requirements of its tariff, minimal as they are, and the RMR Agreement must therefore be accepted.