Amanda C. Downey

Counsel

February 11, 2016

The Honorable Kimberly D. Bose Secretary

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, N.E.

Washington, DC 20426

Re:Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation d/b/a National Grid

Docket No. ER16-___-000

Large Generator Interconnection Agreement with Indeck-Corinth Limited Partnership

Dear Secretary Bose:

Pursuant to Section 205 of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”),1 and Part 35 of the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“Commission”) regulations,2 Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation d/b/a/ National Grid (“National Grid”) submits a Large Generator
Interconnection Agreement (“Agreement”) between National Grid and Indeck-Corinth
Limited Partnership (“Indeck-Corinth”).3 The attached Agreement is designated as Service Agreement No. 2260 under the New York Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“NYISO”) Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”).

The Agreement is an undisputed agreement between National Grid and Indeck-

Corinth for the continued provision of interconnection service to the Indeck-Corinth Energy Center generating facility located in Corinth, New York (“Facility”). National Grid requests that the Commission accept the Agreement as of the effective date set forth therein,
November 19, 2015.

I.Background

National Grid is a public utility with a transmission system in the State of New York.

National Grid’s transmission facilities have been placed under the operational control of the

NYISO.

The Honorable Kimberly Bose February 11, 2016

Page 2

Indeck-Corinth owns and operates the Facility, a 128 MW combined-cycle, natural gas-fueled power plant.

National Grid and Indeck-Corinth are parties to an interconnection agreement (“IA”) regarding the Facility that the Commission accepted for filing in Docket No. ER94-252-000.4 Pursuant to that existing IA, National Grid provides interconnection service to the Facility using the transmission system owned by National Grid.

II.Agreement

National Grid and Indeck-Corinth have entered into the Agreement to provide for
continued interconnection service to the Facility using the transmission system owned by
National Grid, pursuant to the terms of the Agreement. The Parties intend the Agreement to
supersede and replace the existing IA for the Facility that was accepted in Docket No. ER94-
252. The new Agreement is intended to become effective as of November 19, 2015, as set
forth in the Agreement.5 Upon acceptance of this Agreement, National Grid intends to file to
terminate the superseded IA.

With minor variations, the Agreement follows the pro forma Large Generator

Interconnection Agreement (“LGIA”) set forth in Appendix 6 of Attachment X to the NYISO
OATT. The main difference between the Agreement and the NYISO pro forma LGIA is that
the Agreement is a two-party agreement between the transmission owner (National Grid) and
the generation facility owner (Indeck-Corinth), whereas the NYISO pro forma LGIA is a
three-party agreement among the transmission owner, the generation facility owner, and the
NYISO.6

Commission precedent supports acceptance of the Agreement as a two-party

agreement. In proceedings on two-party LGIAs between National Grid and generation

subsidiaries of Alliance Energy that were modeled on the NYISO pro forma LGIA,7 the

Commission found that the NYISO did not need to be a party to certain two-party LGIAs, for the following reasons:

[T]hey are not the type of new generator interconnection agreements

envisioned by Order No. 2003; rather they are more like after-the-fact

interconnection operating agreements that govern the terms, conditions, and

The Honorable Kimberly Bose February 11, 2016

Page 3

rates associated with the continued operation and maintenance of previously constructed facilities built to accommodate the interconnection of the Alliance generators to Niagara Mohawk’s transmission system. Accordingly, we will not require NYISO to be a signatory to these unexecuted IAs.8

Like the LGIAs in that case, the Agreement is not a new generator interconnection agreement of the type envisioned by Order No. 2003. Instead, the Agreement governs the terms,
conditions, and rates associated with the continued operation and maintenance of the
previously constructed facilities built to accommodate the interconnection of the existing
Facility to the National Grid transmission system. Therefore, the Commission should accept the Agreement as a two-party agreement.

The NYISO pro forma LGIA contains a number of provisions that are applicable to
new interconnections but are not applicable to existing interconnections, such as the
interconnection for the Facility. However, National Grid and Indeck-Corinth have agreed to
retain those provisions in the Agreement.9 This approach is consistent with the approach
authorized in PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.10 In that order, the Commission rejected a
proposal to delete inapplicable provisions from an LGIA, stating that “[i]f a provision of a
contract is not applicable, it is not applicable,” and concluding that “[u]nless confusion is
likely, modifications to a pro forma agreement that ‘clarify’ matters not in doubt are not
necessary.”11

National Grid and Indeck-Corinth have agreed to a twenty-year term for the

Agreement, which differs from the ten-year term contained in the NYISO pro forma LGIA.12
National Grid and Indeck-Corinth have also included clarifying provisions in the Agreement
that differ from provisions in the NYISO pro forma LGIA. In Article 27.2, the Parties have
changed the arbitration provisions so that, if they fail to agree upon a single arbitrator, the
arbitration will be performed by a three-member panel consisting of (1) an arbitrator selected
by National Grid, (2) an arbitrator selected by Indeck-Corinth, and (3) an arbitrator selected
by the first two arbitrators, or, if they cannot agree on a selection, an arbitrator selected in
accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association. The Parties have made
this change to reflect the fact that the Agreement is a two-party rather than a three-party

The Honorable Kimberly Bose February 11, 2016

Page 4

agreement. In Article 27.4, the Parties have changed the allocation of arbitration costs from a
total of one-third per Party to one-half per Party, again because the Agreement is between
two rather than three parties. In Appendix E to the Agreement, the Parties have replaced the
developer certification statement concerning trial operation and commencement of
commercial operation with a statement that Indeck-Corinth commenced commercial
operation of the Facility on July 1, 1995. The purpose of this modification is to specify the
date on which the Facility was interconnected and began commercial operation. The
Commission has accepted comparable LGIAs containing similar clarifying provisions. In
new Appendix H to the Agreement, the Parties have clarified that, in accordance with Article

10.5 of the Agreement, Indeck-Corinth will be responsible for all reasonable operation and maintenance expenses and will pay such expenses to National Grid under one of two
procedures set forth in Appendix H.

III. Effective Date and Request for Waiver

Pursuant to Section 35.11 of the Commission’s regulations,13 National Grid

respectfully requests waiver of the notice requirement contained in Section 35.3 of the
Commission’s regulations14 to the extent necessary to allow the Agreement to become
effective upon the effective date set forth in the agreement, i.e., November 19, 2015.15

Good cause exists for the Commission to grant this waiver. Granting the waiver will accord with the intent of National Grid and Indeck-Corinth to make the Agreement effective as of November 19, 2015, as stated in the Agreement. Therefore, no prejudice will result to any party from granting the waiver. For these reasons, the Commission should find that good cause exists to grant an effective date of November 19, 2015.

IV.Documents Enclosed

In addition to this filing letter, attached are the following documents:

i.The Agreement (Service Agreement No. 2260 under the NYISO OATT),

provided in clean format (Attachment A)

ii.Black-lined revisions showing the differences between the Agreement and the

NYISO pro forma LGIA (Attachment B)

1318 C.F.R. § 35.11.

1418 C.F.R. § 35.3.

15Article 2.1 of the Agreement states that the Agreement “shall become effective upon execution by the

Parties, subject to acceptance by FERC.” As shown in the signature block at the end of the body of the

Agreement, it was executed on November 19, 2015.

Amanda C. Downey
National Grid USA

Service Company, Inc.

40 Sylvan Road

Waltham, MA 02451 (781)907-2136

amanda.downey@nationalgrid.com

Kathryn Cox-Arslan

Director, Transmission Commercial National Grid USA

40 Sylvan Road

Waltham, MA 02451 (781) 907-2406

kathryn.cox@nationalgrid.com

Sean A. Atkins

Bradley R. Miliauskas Alston & Bird LLP The Atlantic Building 950 F Street, NW

Washington, DC 20004 (202) 239-3300

sean.atkins@alston.com
bradley.miliauskas@alston.com

Copies of this filing have been served on Indeck-Corinth, the NYISO, and the New York State Public Service Commission.

VI.Conclusion

For the reasons stated herein, National Grid respectfully requests that the Commission accept the Agreement effective as of November 19, 2015.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Amanda C. Downey

Amanda Downey

Counsel

National Grid USA

Service Company, Inc.

40 Sylvan Road

Waltham, MA 02451

Attorney for Niagara Mohawk Power
Corporation d/b/a National Grid