Monitor at Odds with PJM, Marketer over FTR Forfeiture Rule
PJM’s Independent Market Monitor told the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week that proposals by the RTO and a marketer to change the financial transmission rights (FTR) forfeiture rule would weaken protections against market manipulation.
The Monitor leveled the criticism in comments filed last week in the Section 206 case FERC ordered last year regarding the RTO’s treatment of virtual transactions (EL14-37).
The Monitor said PJM’s proposal to use a load- or generation-weighted reference bus rather than the largest impact bus would “functionally eliminate” the forfeiture rule under the current, non-portfolio approach to evaluating impacts of transactions on congestion.
In September, FERC ordered the Section 206 proceeding to determine whether PJM is improperly treating up-to-congestion transactions differently than incremental offers (INCs) and decrement bids (DECs). While INCs and DECs are charged uplift and subject to the FTR forfeiture rule, UTCs are exempt from both.
