FERC rejects CAISO proposal to allocate some interconnection costs regionally
The debate boils down to this: renewable generators see Valley Electric’s system as a good place to locate renewable infrastructure — but it is small, and located in Nevada, and at least one commissioner said its ratepayers should not have to bear the costs of system improvements that will benefit others.
“The location of Valley Electric has led to a volume of interconnection requests to meet California’s renewable targets that is grossly disproportionate to its customer base,” former Chairman Cheryl LaFleur wrote in her dissent. “It is simply unfair to require the 0.27 percent of CAISO’s customer base in Nevada to bear the costs of these interconnections.”
For some comparison: Valley Electric has an annual gross load of 545 GWh, according to the commission’s order—less than 1% of the system’s annual gross load. Pacific Gas & Electric, however, is CAISO’s largest PTO and has an annual gross load of 91,500 GWh.
