5.4. ERMUSR 03-20-2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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power systems to extent that such systems engage in FERGjurisdictional activities. In January of 2007, FERC imposed its first round of penalties with these new authorities based on self-reports made to the FERC by the utilities that committed the offenses. In total, five investor-owned utilities agreed to pay approximately $22.5 million in fines. Merger Review Authority EPAct05 modified FERC's merger review authority to provide the Commission with authority over the merger of t~~o or more holding companies, as well as the acquisition or sale of generation facilities by investor-owned utilities. The merger review provisions now apply to transactions with a value in excess of $10,000,000 and FERC must act on merger applications v`~thin 180 days of filing. (FERC may issue an order extending time for action on the application another 180 days.) FERC shall approve the proposed disposition, consolidation, acquisition or change in control if it finds that the transaction will be consistent ~~ith the public interest and will not result in cross-subsidization of non-utility affiliates. FERC sought comments on how it should implement these new merger authorities. APPA's comments recommended that FERC should revisit its regulatory framework for reviewing merger transactions, to reflect post-PUHCA repeal structural realities, and that on a case-by- case basis, FERC should include express protections against cross-subsidization in merger approvals. A final rule implementing FERC's merger re~~iew authority was released in December 2005, and APPA and NRECA sought rehearing in January of 2006 urging FERC to strengthen the cross-subsidization protections in the rule and to "rethink its regulatory framework to deal with these new structural realities." FERC's April 2006 order on rehearing added some additional protections against cross-subsidization based on APPA's and NRECA's concerns. FERC has also indicated that it will hold a technical conference on the broader issue of its merger re~~iew policy in 2007. Long-term Transmission Rights Ensuring access to long-term transmission rights (LTTRs), especially in RTO/ISO regions, was a high priority for APPA during consideration of EPAct05, and was ultimately included in the statute. After EPAct05's passage, ensuring timely and fair implementation of LTTRs in RTO regions became a top pnoriry as well. In February of 2006, FERC issued its proposed rule on LTTRs, which APPA largely supported. APPA noted in its comments that its members in RTO regions "are experiencing increasing problems securing new long-term baseload and renewable generation resources and power supply contracts, due in part to their inability to hedge for a substantial period of time the transmission congestion costs associated with such resources." In July of 2006, FERC issued its final rule on LTTRs, requiring RTOs that oversee organized markets to make LTTRs available to their transmission customers and to file compliance plans by January 29, 2007. APPA filed for rehearing of the final rule on a few limited issues, including the issue of which load serving entities ("CBEs") should obtain LTTRs on a pnoriry basis. Having obtained favorable clarifications fiom the Commission in a November 2006 rehearing order, APPA has concluded its work in this docket. Individual APPA members in RTO regions are now participating in the various LTTR implementation dockets. Market Transparency EPAct05 contained provisions on electricity market price transparency. In 2006 FERC held meetings with stakeholders, a workshop and a technical conference to determine the www.APPAnet.org continued