Commissioner James Danly Statement
May 1, 2020
Docket Nos. ER20-1145-000
Concurrence Regarding Southwest Power Pool, Inc.
Today, the Commission accepted Southwest Power Pool, Inc.’s (SPP) filing of its Network Integration Transmission Service Agreement and Network Operating Agreement. I concur with the decision to give these agreements an effective date prior to the date they were filed insofar as SPP relied on the Commission’s Prior Notice Order and more recent precedent.[1] However, it appears to me that the Commission’s practice of allowing rate schedules to go into effect before they are filed runs afoul of the rule against retroactive ratemaking. I therefore urge the Commission to reexamine its practice.
For these reasons, I respectfully concur.
[1] See Prior Notice and Filing Requirements Under Part II of the Federal Power Act, 64 FERC ¶ 61,139, at 61,984, order on reh’g, 65 FERC ¶ 61,081 (1993) (finding that the Commission may waive prior notice for service agreements under an umbrella tariff if such service agreements are filed within 30 days after service commences); see, e.g., Sw. Power Pool, Inc., 169 FERC ¶ 61,072, at PP 1, 12 (2019) (granting a waiver with an effective date prior to SPP’s filing date because the agreements were filed within 30 days of commencement of service); Sw. Power Pool, Inc., 155 FERC ¶ 61,202, at PP 1, 17 (2016) (same); Sw. Power Pool, Inc., 155 FERC ¶ 61,002, at PP 1, 18 (2016) (same).