Commissioner Mark C. Christie Statement
December 1, 2021
Docket No. ER21-2600-001
Today’s order accepts, subject to condition, a transmission formula rate for L and O Power Cooperative (L&O Power), including a base return on equity (ROE) of 9.6% plus a 50-basis point “RTO Adder”. I concur with today’s order because it is consistent with the Commission’s existing precedent and regulations regarding incentive-based adders. However, as the Commission recognized in its Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued in April of this year,[1] reforms to the current policy may be necessary to ensure just and reasonable rates. We are now more than six months out from the issuance of the Supplemental NOPR, which proposed to limit the adder to 50-basis points and circumscribe the use of ROE adders for RTO membership, such as the adder in this case. It is my hope that the Commission will revisit that proceeding and issue a final rule resolving these issues as promptly as possible. Until then, consumers will continue to pay potentially excessive rates that may no longer be consistent with the Federal Power Act.
For these reasons, I respectfully concur.
[1] Electric Transmission Incentives Policy Under Section 219 of the Federal Power Act, 175 FERC ¶ 61,035, at P 11 (2021) (Supplemental NOPR).