Daniel Galaburda
Senior Counsel
September 29, 2010
The Honorable Kimberly D. Bose Secretary
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE, Room lA
Washington, D.C. 20426
RE: Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation Beacon Power Corporation
Engineering Procurement and Construction Services Agreement Docket No. ER10-
Dear Secretary Bose:
Pursuant to Section 205 of the Federal Power Act, 16 U.S.C. § 824d, and Part
35.12 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (“FERC” or "Commission")
regulations, 18 C.F.R. Part 35.12 (2006), Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation, d/b/a
National Grid ("Niagara Mohawk"), submits for filing an Engineering, Procurement and
Construction Services Agreement (" EPC Agreement") between Niagara Mohawk and
Beacon Power Corporation ("Beacon Power" or "Producer") under the New York
Independent System Operator, LLC's ("NYISO") open access transmission tariff, FERC
Electric Tariff, Original Volume No. 1. Under the EPC Agreement, Niagara Mohawk will
provide, at Beacon Power’s sole cost and expense, design, engineering, procurement,
construction and project management to effectuate certain necessary system upgrades.
Niagara Mohawk will only collect from Beacon Power any actual costs for the work
performed under this EPC Agreement.
I.Information Submitted with Filing
Beacon Power is interconnecting a new 20 MW flywheel generation facility to
NYSEG’s 115 kV system at Stephentown Station in Rensselaer County, New York via a
single breaker tap to the 115 kV bus at the station. National Grid’s Greenbush-
Stephentown 993 Line ties to the same 115 kV bus thereby making National Grid an
Affected System Owner. To ensure the reliable interconnection of Beacon Power’s
generation facility to NYSEG’s 115 kV system, certain equipment, engineering,
40 Sylvan Road, Waltham, MA 02451
T: 781-907-1847 F: 781-907-5701 daniel.galaburda@us.ngrid.com www.nationalgrid.com
procurement, construction, installation, testing and commissioning work is required to build and/or modify Niagara Mohawk’s facilities and related System Upgrade Facilities.
Beacon Power’s interconnection to NYSEG’s 115 kV system at Stephentown
Station is a generator interconnection for wholesale sales that is being processed under
Attachment Z to the NYISO OATT. In a number of cases, FERC has required
interconnection-related Engineering, Procurement and Construction Services Agreements
to be filed with the Commission, even over the objections of the parties to those
Agreements. In one case, SoCal Edison argued on rehearing that FERC lacked jurisdiction
over seven letter agreements with generators pursuant to which SoCal Edison undertook
“pre-interconnection activities including procurement, engineering, and limited
construction for interconnection” under the terms of its tariffs. FERC found on rehearing
that the agreements were in essence Contribution-in-Aid-of-Construction (“CIAC”)
agreements, which are jurisdictional “because they involve construction of facilities
necessary to provide jurisdictional transmission services” and “all charges assessed to
recoup the cost of facilities used to provide transmission service at jurisdictional rates.”
Southern California Edison Co., 98 FERC para. 61,304 at 62,300-01 (2002).
In another case, Duke Energy argued that FERC lacked jurisdiction over a letter
agreement that “allowed[ed] Duke to begin construction of a switchyard required to
interconnect GenPower’s facility to Duke’s transmission system” and “authorized Duke to
perform certain engineering and design work, and to order and purchase certain long-lead
time items, pending execution of” an interconnection agreement. Duke noted that FERC’s
then-recent Order No. 2003 NOPR “provides for the execution of engineering and
procurement agreements without suggesting that such agreements must be filed.” FERC
found that Duke must file the agreements for reasons similar to those stated in the SoCal
Edison case cited above. GenPower Anderson, LLC v. Duke Energy Corp., 101 FERC
para. 61,038 at 61, 149-51 (2002).
It is true that, when a generator is connecting to a utility’s system, FERC generally does not require study agreements or typical support services agreements to be filed with FERC where there is no dispute with the connecting generator. The reason for this is not that the terms of the interconnection and related study activities are not FERC-
jurisdictional. Instead, FERC’s reasoning is that the terms of those study agreements and support services agreements will be ultimately reflected in a generator interconnection agreement that will be filed with FERC (or reported in an EQR filing).
In the instant case, because Niagara Mohawk is not the Connecting Transmission Owner, the same reasoning does not apply. The only agreement covering Niagara
Mohawk’s engineering, procurement and construction services to Beacon Power is the
EPC Agreement. Accordingly, this EPC Agreement is being filed with the Commission for review and approval.
II.Communications and Service
Communications regarding this filing should be addressed to the following individuals, whose names should be entered on the official service list maintained by the Secretary for the docket established with respect to this filing:
Daniel Galaburda
Senior Counsel
National Grid USA Service Company, Inc.
40 Sylvan Road
Waltham, MA 02451 Phone: (781) 907-1847 Fax: (781) 907-5701
Email: daniel.galaburda@us.ngrid.com
Mary Ellen Paravalos
Vice President of Transmission Regulation & Commercial Services Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation,
d/b/a National Grid 40 Sylvan Road Waltham, MA 02451
Phone: (781) 907-5706
Email: Mary.ellen.paravalos@us.ngrid.com
A copy of this filing has been served on Beacon Power, the New York
Independent System Operator and the New York State Department of Public
Service.
III. Proposed Effective Date
In accordance with section 35.3 of the Commission's Regulations, Niagara
Mohawk respectfully requests that the Commission accept this EPC Agreement for filing, effective as of November 29, 2010.
IV. Order No. 614 Designations
Pursuant to the Commission's orders in Designation of Electric Rate Schedule Sheets, Order No. 614, 90 FERC ¶ 61,352 (2000) and Southwest Power Pool, Inc., 92 FERC ¶ 61,109 (2000), Niagara Mohawk is required to designate the EPC Agreement as a service agreement under the NYISO OATT. As a result, Niagara Mohawk has designated the EPC Agreement as:
New York Independent System Operator, Inc. FERC Electric Tariff, Original Volume No. 1 Original Service Agreement No. 1630
Issued by: Mary Ellen Paravalos
Vice President of Transmission Regulation & Commercial Services
National Grid USA for Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation Issued on: September 29, 2010
Effective: November 29, 2010
V.Documents Enclosed
i.This filing letter;
ii.Original Service Agreement Number 1630.
Copies of this filing have been served on Beacon Power, the NYISO and the New York Public Service Commission.
Respectfully submitted,
/s/ Daniel Galaburda
Daniel Galaburda
Senior Counsel
National Grid USA Service Company, Inc.
40 Sylvan Road
Waltham, MA 02451
Attorney for
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation,
d/b/a National Grid