10 Krey Boulevard Rensselaer, NY 12144
March 4, 2013
By Electronic Delivery
Honorable Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20426
Re: New York Independent System Operator, Inc.’s Compliance Filing in
Docket No. ER13-588-00_
Dear Ms. Bose:
The New York Independent System Operator, Inc. (“NYISO”) hereby submits
proposed revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”) in compliance with
paragraphs 43 and 52 and the ordering paragraph of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission’s (“Commission” or “FERC”) February 15, 2013 Order Accepting Tariff
Revisions With Modifications that was issued in Docket No. ER13-588-000 (“February
Order”).1
In a December 19, 2012 filing, the NYISO proposed revisions to Attachments S, X
and Z to the OATT to improve upon its interconnection study process (“December Filing”).2
The proposed revisions focused, in particular, on the final study in its process - the Class
Year Interconnection Facilities Study (“Class Year Study”).3 The NYISO also proposed
changes to its interconnection procedures related to extensions of Commercial Operation Date
and the time within which to finalize an Interconnection Agreement - both of which are
designed to encourage projects to proceed through the interconnection process in a timely
manner. The NYISO’s proposed revisions to Attachments S, X and Z also included a number
of ministerial revisions and other minor revisions intended to clarify existing language and
procedures.
1 New York Independent System Operator, Inc., Order Accepting Tariff Revisions With Modifications, 142 FERC ¶ 61,113 (Issued February 15, 2013 (“February Order”).
2 New York Independent System Operator, Inc., Proposed Tariff Revisions Regarding Interconnection Process Improvements, ER13-588-000 (December 19, 2012) (“December Filing”).
3 Capitalized terms not otherwise defined in this letter have the meaning set forth in Attachments S, X and Z of
the NYISO’s OATT, as amended by the enclosed proposed revisions to Attachments S, X and Z of the OATT.
Honorable Kimberly D. Bose March 4, 2013
Page 2
In its February Order, the Commission conditionally accepted the revisions and
directed the NYISO to incorporate certain limited modifications to the portion of the
December 19 Filing related to limitations on extensions of Commercial Operation Date. The
NYISO hereby submits revisions to Attachment X to the OATT to incorporate these
modifications as described in Section IV(A) below. The NYISO also hereby submits a single,
ministerial revision to Attachment S to the OATT as described in Section IV(B) below.
I.LIST OF DOCUMENTS SUBMITTED
The NYISO submits the following documents:
1.This filing letter;
2.A clean version of the proposed revisions to Attachment X to the NYISO’s
OATT (“Attachment I”);
3.A blacklined version of the proposed revisions to Attachment X to the
NYISO’s OATT (“Attachment II”).
4.A clean version of the proposed revisions to Attachment S to the NYISO’s
OATT (“Attachment III”);
5.A blacklined version of the proposed revisions to Attachment S to the
NYISO’s OATT (“Attachment IV”).
II.COPIES OF CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence concerning this filing should be served on:
Robert E. Fernandez, General Counsel
Raymond Stalter, Director of Regulatory Affairs *Sara B. Keegan, Senior Attorney
New York Independent System Operator, Inc.
10 Krey Boulevard
Rensselaer, NY 12144
Tel: (518) 356-8554
Fax: (518) 356-7678
skeegan@nyiso.com
* Persons designated for receipt of service
Honorable Kimberly D. Bose March 4, 2013
Page 3
III.BACKGROUND
A.December 19 Proposal to Revise the Commercial Operation Date
Limitations in Attachment X to the OATT
In the December 19 Filing, the NYISO proposed to revise Attachment X to the OATT to limit the permissible extensions of the Commercial Operation Date specified at the
completion of the Class Year Study (or upon tender of the SGIA, as applicable). Specifically, the NYISO proposed to revise Section 30.4.4.5 to only permit extensions of Commercial
Operation Date that are within four (4) years from the completion of the Class Year
Study/tender of the SGIA (“permissible extension period”). Under the proposed revisions, a request for an extension of a Commercial Operation Date requires no materiality review if it is within the permissible extension period.
As revised, Section 30.4.4.5 would further provide that a Developer may request an
extension of its Commercial Operation Date beyond the permissible extension period and
such extension would not be a Material Modification (and would therefore be permitted) if the
following conditions have been met: (1) Developer must have an executed Interconnection
Agreement for the project or have on file with FERC an unexecuted Interconnection
Agreement; and (2) Developer must demonstrate (via an Officer certification) continuous
progress against milestones set forth in the Interconnection Agreement (e.g., completion of
engineering design, major equipment orders, commencement and continuation of
construction of the project and associated System Upgrade Facilities, as applicable). If the
Developer does not satisfy the above conditions, an extension of Commercial Operation Date
that would put the project in Commercial Operation after the four-year period following
completion of its Class Year Study/tender of the SGIA would not be permitted and would
subject the project to withdrawal from the NYISO interconnection queue.
In its December 19 Filing, the NYISO proposed that these tariff revisions to Section
30.4.4.5 in Attachment X to the OATT would apply to all generation and merchant
transmission projects in the NYISO interconnection queue that have not yet accepted their
cost allocation through the Class Year Study process or that are not subject to Attachment S.
For those projects that have already accepted their cost allocation, to the extent their proposed Commercial Operation Date is not within the permissible time period, the NYISO proposed
that they would be subject to a transition rule set forth in Section 30.4.4.5.3 of Attachment X to the OATT. Section 30.4.4.5.3 that would allow projects subject to the transition rule to
have sixty (60) days after the tariff revisions take effect to satisfy the criteria specified above (an executed Interconnection Agreement (or an unexecuted Interconnection Agreement filed with FERC) and demonstrated progress against the milestones set forth in the Interconnection Agreement). To the extent they fail to satisfy such criteria within sixty (60) days, they would be withdrawn from the interconnection queue.
Honorable Kimberly D. Bose March 4, 2013
Page 4
1. Extensions of Commercial Operation Date Previously Determined by
the NYISO Not to Be Material Modifications
In a protest to the December 19 Filing, Cape Vincent Wind Power, LLC (“Cape
Vincent”), stated that the NYISO’s proposed revisions to Section 30.4.4.5.3 could be
interpreted to apply to its project despite the NYISO’s determination that the extension of the
Commercial Operating Date was not a Material Modification.4 Cape Vincent contended that
such interpretation would invalidate the purpose of Material Modification review and
therefore requested that the Commission direct the NYISO to clarify that the proposed
revisions to Section 30.4.4.5 of Attachment X do not apply to projects for which the NYISO
has determined that a requested extension does not constitute a Material Modification.5
In its response to the Cape Vincent Protest, the NYISO stated that it would not oppose
limited modifications of its proposed revisions to address Cape Vincent’s concerns.6 The
NYISO suggested in its response that it would be agreeable to modifying Section 30.4.4.5.3 to
expand the criteria that projects subject to the transition rule can meet in order to retain their
queue position.7 These modifications would include Section 30.4.4.5.3.2, which would allow
a Material Modification determination by the NYISO that was made prior to the effectiveness
of the NYISO’s tariff revisions to stand.8 With such modifications, a project developer such
as Cape Vincent would not be subject to a new Material Modification determination.
The Commission, in its February Order, found that “the changes to Section 30.4.4.5 of
Attachment X as modified in NYISO’s answer are just and reasonable and are hereby
accepted.”9 The Commission therefore directed the NYISO to make the tariff modifications
proposed in its answer, provided that it: (1) revise Section 30.4.4.5.3.2 to state that such
determination is to be prior to February 18, 2013, and (2) revise Section 30.4.4.5.3 to clearly
provide that projects exempted by Section 30.4.4.5.3.2 are not subject to the requirements of
Section 30.4.4.5.3.3.
2. Grace Period for Projects Subject to the Transition Rule that Have
Unexecuted Interconnection Agreements on File with the Commission
In its protest, Cape Vincent also contended that, where an Interconnection Agreement
is filed unexecuted, the project developer (and possibly the Connecting Transmission Owner)
4 New York Independent System Operator, Inc., Motion to Intervene and Protest of Cape Vincent Wind Power, LLC, ER13-588-000 (January 9, 2013) (“Cape Vincent Protest”) at 5.
5 Id.
6 New York Independent System Operator, Inc., Answer of the New York Independent System Operator, Inc., ER13-588-000 (January 24, 2013) (“NYISO Answer”) at 6.
7 Id.
8 Id.
9 February Order at P43.
Honorable Kimberly D. Bose March 4, 2013
Page 5
might not agree with all the terms and conditions contained in the NYISO’s filing, including one or more of the milestones set forth in Appendix B of the Interconnection Agreement.10 Therefore, Cape Vincent asked the Commission to direct the NYISO to modify its proposal to provide a grace period of sixty (60) days after issuance of a Commission order on a contested Interconnection Agreement for the project developer to demonstrate reasonable efforts against milestones ultimately approved by the Commission.11
In is response to the Cape Vincent Protest, the NYISO stated that it would not oppose Cape Vincent’s request to modify the NYISO’s proposal to provide the requested grace
period.12 The Commission therefore directed the NYISO to file the relevant tariff
modifications consistent with its commitment.13
B.December 19 Proposal to Revise Attachment S to the OATT Accepted by
the Commission in the February Order
In its February Order, the Commission accepted the NYISO proposed revisions to Attachment S to OATT, including a new Section 25.5.9 entitled, “Class Year Start Date and Schedule.” This section provides that subsequent to Class Year 2012, the Class Year Study will begin on the Class Year Start Date, which will be the earliest of the following dates after the completion of the prior Class Year Study: March 1, June 1 or September 1.
In preparing the December 19 Filing, the NYISO added an explanatory parenthetical
in the new Section 25.5.9 to clarify what was meant by the term “completion of the prior
Class Year Interconnection Facilities Study.” The parenthetical was meant to explain what is
meant by “completion” of a Class Year Study generally, not completion of any one particular
Class Year. The NYISO nonetheless inadvertently referred only to “Class Year 2011” rather
than simply “Class Year” in the explanatory parenthetical. The NYISO therefore proposes a
ministerial correction described in Section IV(B) below to correct this ministerial error.
IV.DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSED TARIFF REVISIONS
A.Proposed Revisions to the Commercial Operation Date Limitations in
Attachment X to the OATT
Consistent with the Commission’s directives in paragraph 43 of the February Order,
the NYISO proposes to revise Section 30.4.4.5.3 of Attachment X to the OATT to allow
10 Cape Vincent Protest at 9.
11 Id.
12 NYISO Answer at 8.
13 February Order at P52.
Honorable Kimberly D. Bose March 4, 2013
Page 6
projects to satisfy the transition rule if the NYISO has already determined an extension of the Commercial Operation Date to be non-material, in which case the new requirement regarding the Interconnection Agreement and progress against the stated milestones would apply only if and when the Developer requests a further extension.
Consistent with paragraph 52 of the February Order, the NYISO further proposes to
extend the sixty (60) day grace period in the transition rule in Section 30.4.4.5.3. Specifically,
for projects subject to the transition rule that satisfy the Interconnection Agreement
requirement by having an unexecuted Interconnection Agreement on file with the
Commission, the NYISO proposes to modify its proposal to provide a grace period of sixty
(60) days after issuance of the Commission’s Order on an unexecuted Interconnection Agreement for the Developer to satisfy the requirement that it demonstrate reasonable progress against the milestones ultimately approved by the Commission.
The NYISO further proposes to make ministerial formatting revisions to Section
30.4.4.5 and its subsections. Such ministerial revisions consist only of (1) a numbering
correction to the subsections of Section 30.4.4.5.2 and Section 30.4.4.5.3.3; and (2) removal
of inadvertent bold font. Both clean and redlined versions of the proposed revisions to
Section 30.4.4.5 of Attachment X to the OATT are attached to this transmittal letter.
B. Proposed Revision to Section 25.5.9 of Attachment S to the OATT
As noted in Section III(B) above, since the December 19 Filing, it has since come to the NYISO’s attention that a typographical error was inadvertently made in an explanatory parenthetical included in the new Section 25.5.9 of Attachment S to the OATT that requires correction. Specifically, the NYISO proposes to delete one word, as blacklined in bold type in the following excerpt from Section 25.5.9:
Starting with the Class Year subsequent to Class Year 2012, the
Annual Transmission Reliability Assessment will begin on the
Class Year Start Date, which will be the earliest of the
following dates after the completion of the prior Class Year
Interconnection Facilities Study (i.e., date upon which all
remaining Class Year 2011 Developers have accepted their
Project Cost Allocations and have posted security for same):
March 1, June 1 or September 1.
In preparing the December 19 Filing, the NYISO added the explanatory parenthetical
above to clarify the reference to “completion of the prior Class Year Interconnection Facilities
Study.” The parenthetical was meant to explain what is meant by “completion” of a Class
Year Study generally, not completion of any one particular Class Year. The correction
proposed herein does not alter the substance of the NYISO’s December 19 Filing.
Honorable Kimberly D. Bose March 4, 2013
Page 7
V.EFFECTIVE DATE
The NYISO requests an effective date for these tariff revisions of February 18, 2013, which is consistent with the date that the NYISO requested for the revisions proposed in its December Filing and that the Commission accepted in its February Order.
VI.SERVICE
The NYISO will email a copy of this filing to the official representative of each party
to this proceeding, to the New York Public Service Commission, and to the New Jersey Board
of Public Utilities. In addition, the NYISO will post this compliance filing on the NYISO’s
website at www.nyiso.com and will email the electronic link to the filing to each of its
customers and to each participant of its stakeholder committees.
VII. CONCLUSION
WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, the NYISO respectfully requests that the
Commission accept this filing and the proffered tariff changes as fulfilling its obligation to
comply with paragraphs 43 and 52 and the ordering paragraph B of the February 15, 2013
Order.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Sara B. Keegan
Sara B. Keegan, Senior Attorney
New York Independent System Operator, Inc.
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing document upon each person
designated on the official service list compiled by the Secretary in this proceeding in accordance with the requirements of Rule 2010 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure, 18 C.F.R. §385.2010.
Dated at Rensselaer, NY this 4th day of March, 2013.
/s/ Joy A. Zimberlin
Joy A. Zimberlin
New York Independent System Operator, Inc.
10 Krey Blvd.
Rensselaer, NY 12144 (518) 356-6207
