UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

Commission Information Collection)

Activities (FERC-520, FERC-561,)Docket No. IC14-9-000

FERC-566); Comment Request; Extension)

COMMENTS OF THE

NEW YORK INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR, INC.

Pursuant to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“Commission’s”) February 26, 2014, notice of information collection and request for comments,1 the New York
Independent System Operator, Inc. (“NYISO”) respectfully submits these comments regarding the reporting requirements under FERC Form 566 (Annual Report of Utility’s 20 Largest
Purchasers). For the reasons described below, the NYISO respectfully requests that the
Commission exclude it from the requirement to submit FERC Form 566.

I.COMMENTS

For the reasons set forth herein, the NYISO should be exempted from the requirement to
submit FERC Form 566. The requirements of the Federal Power Act that form the basis for the
reporting requirements implemented through FERC Form 566 do not apply to NYISO directors
and officers, are not required to ensure that NYISO directors and officers are independent from
purchasers in the NYISO-administered markets, and create an unnecessary reporting obligation
for the NYISO.

The Federal Power Act requires that an officer or director of a public utility inform the
Commission if, in the preceding year, he or she was also simultaneously an officer, director,

1 Commission Information Collection Activities (FERC-520, FERC-561, FERC-566); Comment
Request; Extension, FERC Docket No. IC14-9-000 (February 26, 2014) (“February 2014 Comment
Request”).

partner, appointee, or representative of another entity, including certain financial institutions,
underwriting organizations, equipment producers or suppliers, and leading purchasers of electric
energy from the public utility.2 The relevant purchasers of electric energy are defined as: “any
company, firm, or organization which during any one of the three calendar years immediately
preceding the filing date was one of the 20 purchasers of electric energy which purchased (for
purposes other than for resale) one of the 20 largest annual amounts of electric energy sold by
such public utility (or by any public utility which is part of the same holding company system)
during any one of such three calendar years.”3 The public utility is required to publish a list of
these purchasers, as set forth in 18 C.F.R. § 46.3 and implemented through FERC From 566, “for
purposes of any filing” that the director or officer of the public utility may have to make to report
its association with such purchaser.4 As described by the Commission, the purpose of publishing
this list is to provide “officers and directors with the information necessary to determine whether
any of the entities with whom they are related are any of the largest 20 purchasers of the public
utility with which they are affiliated.”5

The Commission should exclude the NYISO from having to submit FERC Form 566.
The NYISO is the independent system operator responsible for providing open-access
transmission service, maintaining reliability, conducting bulk electric system planning, and
administrating competitive wholesale markets for electricity, capacity, and ancillary services in

2 16 U.S.C. §§ 825d(c)(1) & (2).

3 16 U.S.C. § 825d(c)(2)(D).

4 16 U.S.C. § 825d(c)(2) (“On or before January 31 of each calendar year, each public utility shall
publish a list, pursuant to rules prescribed by the Commission, of the purchasers to which subparagraph

(D) applies, for purposes of any filing under paragraph (1) of such calendar year”) (emphasis added).

5 February 2014 Comment Request at p 5.

New York State. Directors and officers of the NYISO are required to be independent from all
NYISO market participants and their affiliates under the conflict of interest requirements set
forth in Attachment F of the NYISO Open Access Transmission Tariff accepted by the
Commission. Under the NYISO’s independence requirements, its directors and officers are
explicitly prohibited from being associated with (i.e., being an officer, director, partner, or
employee of), taking secondary employment with, or transacting business with a NYISO market
participant or its affiliates, which include all entities making purchases in the NYISO-
administered markets.6 For this reason, NYISO directors and officers cannot simultaneously be
employed with a purchaser in the NYISO-administered market, and will not, therefore, be
required to file with the Commission to inform it of any simultaneous employment. As the
Federal Power Act makes clear, entities must publish this list of purchasers simply “for purposes
of any filing” that a director or officer must make to report on its association with the purchaser.7
Therefore such list is not necessary with regard to NYISO. Moreover, the NYISO already
publicly discloses on its website all of its market participants, from which NYISO directors and
officers must remain independent.

In addition, compliance with Form 566 poses practical difficulties for the NYISO.
ISOs/RTOs’ principal focus is on administering Commission-jurisdictional wholesale energy and
providing Commission-jurisdictional transmission service. Thus, ISOs/RTOs are focused
primarily on sales for resale and generally have much more limited interaction with purchasers of
electric energy “for purposes other than for resale.” Further, entities in engaged in the purchase
of energy both for their own use and for resale, as well as consumers of station power, pose
particular difficulties in responding to Form 566. Given that compliance with Form 566 is

6 OATT, Attachment F §§ 12.7.1.2 &12.7.4.

7 16 U.S.C. § 825d(c)(2).

redundant with existing provisions related to the demonstration of ISO/RTO independence as described above, there is no reason to require the NYISO to expend the potentially significant time and resources necessary to track their interactions with purchasers “for purposes other than for resale” and to quantify and rank the purchases made by such customers.

For the above-stated reasons, the Commission should exclude the NYISO from having to submit FERC Form 566.

II.COMMUNICATIONS

Communications and correspondence regarding this filing should be directed to:

Robert E. Fernandez, General Counsel
Raymond Stalter, Director of Regulatory Affairs
*Christopher R. Sharp, Compliance Attorney
New York Independent System Operator, Inc.

10 Krey Boulevard

Rensselaer, NY 12144
Tel: (518) 356-6000
Fax: (518) 356-4702
rfernandez@nyiso.com
rstalter@nyiso.com

* -- Persons designated for service.

*Ted J. Murphy

Hunton & Williams LLP 2200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20037
Tel: (202) 955-1500

Fax: (202) 778-2201
tmurphy@hunton.com

*Michael Messonnier8
Hunton & Williams LLP

Riverfront Plaza, East Tower 951 East Byrd Street

Richmond, VA 23219
Tel: (804) 788-8712
Fax: (804) 343-4646

mmessonnier@hunton.com

8 Waiver of the Commission’s regulations (18 C.F.R. § 385.203(b)(3) (2012)) is requested to the
extent necessary to permit service on counsel for the NYISO in both Richmond, VA and Washington,
DC.

III.CONCLUSION

WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, the New York Independent System Operator, Inc., respectfully requests that the Commission accept these comments and exclude it from having to submit FERC Form 566.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Ted J. Murphy

Counsel for the

New York Independent System Operator, Inc.