2.5. ERMUSR 09-11-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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- 6 - River could become subject to the standards of conduct under standards of reciprocity.6 Having recently entered into agreements turning over functional operational control of its transmission equipment to the Midwest ISO, as a practical matter,transmission requests to use Elk River's facilities would come to the Midwest ISO and not to Elk River. Elk River thus has no power to grant or deny transmission use and cannot profit in trading transmission information. As the Commission has recognized, the costs of complying with certain reciprocity-based obligations—specifically, the requirements to create or participate in an OASIS and to separate transmission-function employees from marketing-function employees—can be unduly onerous for small utilities.? Such a burden on small utilities could harm competition rather than enhance it. Elk River is a"small utility"under the definition adopted by the Commission,8 although Elk River recognizes that as a participant in the Midwest ISO, the small utility standard for waiver may not apply.9 The Commission has furthermore recognized that the burden of imposing standards of conduct requirements on utilities that own only limited and discrete 6 Commission policy,which Elk River supports,requires an open access transmission customer to stand ready to provide reciprocal transmission service, if requested,to any public utility from which it takes open access transmission service. Consequently,Elk River would be obliged to provide and would provide, if requested,reciprocity-based transmission service to another public utility from which Elk River takes open access transmission service. The Commission has stated that"absent a waiver,the obligation to provide reciprocal,non-discriminatory services necessarily commits the customer of open access service,even if not a public utility,to abide by the OASIS and standards of conduct requirements."Order No. 889-A,62 Fed Reg. 12,484,at 12,488,FERC Stets.&Regs.If 31,049,at 30,553. To date,the transmission uses of Elk River's 69 kV substation transmission equipment have been to enable Great River Energy to deliver power to Elk River and for Elk River to deliver power on behalf of a wind plant located in the City. Elk River has never denied or had controversy over its providing transmission service. Of course,any transmission request would automatically be granted within Midwest ISO Order No. 888 tariff requirements through MISO. See, e.g.,N. States Power Co., 76 FERC¶61,250,at 62,297(1996)(fording that separating merchant and transmission functions pursuant to Order No. 889 can impose undue financial burden on small utilities). 8 See supra note 4 at 4.