NYISO Tariffs --> Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) --> 32 OATT Att Z Small Generator Interconnection Procedures (SG --> 32.4 OATT Att Z Provisions that Apply to All Interconnection
The NYISOISO, in consultation with the Connecting Transmission Owner, shall make reasonable efforts to meet all time frames provided in these procedures unless the NYISOISO, Connecting Transmission Owner and Interconnection Customer agree to a different schedule. If either the NYISOISO or Connecting Transmission Owner cannot meet a deadline provided herein, it shall notify the Interconnection Customer, explain the reason for the failure to meet the deadline, and provide an estimated time by which it will complete the applicable interconnection procedure in the process.
32.4.2.1 The NYISOISO, Connecting Transmission Owner and Interconnection Customer agree to attempt to resolve all disputes arising out of the interconnection process according to the provisions of this article.
32.4.2.2 In the event of a dispute, the Parties will first attempt to promptly resolve it on an informal basis. If the Parties cannot promptly resolve the dispute on an informal basis, then any Party shall provide the other Parties with a written Notice of Dispute. Such Notice shall describe in detail the nature of the dispute.
32.4.2.3 If the dispute has not been resolved within two Business Days after receipt of the Notice, any Party may contact FERC’s Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) for assistance in resolving the dispute.
32.4.2.4 The DRS will assist the Parties in either resolving their dispute or in selecting an appropriate dispute resolution venue (e.g., mediation, settlement judge, early neutral evaluation, or technical expert) to assist the Parties in resolving their dispute. The result of this dispute resolution process will be binding only if the Parties agree in advance. DRS can be reached at 1-877-337-2237 or via the internet at http://www.ferc.gov/legal/adr.asp.
32.4.2.5 Each Party agrees to conduct all negotiations in good faith and will be responsible for one-third of any costs paid to neutral third-parties.
32.4.2.6 If no Party elects to seek assistance from the DRS, or if the attempted dispute resolution fails, then any Party may exercise whatever rights and remedies it may have in equity or law consistent with the terms of these procedures.
Any metering necessitated by the use of the Small Generating Facility shall be installed at the Interconnection Customer’s expense in accordance with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, state, or local regulatory requirements or the Connecting Transmission Owner’s specifications.
Commissioning tests of the Interconnection Customer’s installed equipment shall be performed pursuant to applicable codes and standards. The NYISOISO and Connecting Transmission Owner must be given at least five Business Days written notice, or as otherwise mutually agreed to by the Parties, of the tests and may be present to witness the commissioning tests.
32.4.5.1 Certain information exchanged by the Parties during the administration of these procedures shall constitute confidential information (“Confidential Information”) and shall be subject to this Section 32.4.5. Confidential Information shall mean any confidential and/or proprietary information provided by one Party to another Party or Parties that is clearly marked or otherwise designated “Confidential.” For purposes of these procedures, all design, operating specifications, and metering data provided by the Interconnection Customer shall be deemed Confidential Information regardless of whether it is clearly marked or otherwise designated as such. Confidential Information shall include, without limitation, information designated as such by the NYISOISO Code of Conduct contained in Attachment F to the NYISOISO OATT.
32.4.5.2 Confidential Information does not include information previously in the public domain, required to be publicly submitted to or divulged by Governmental Authorities (after notice to the other Parties and after exhausting any opportunity to oppose such publication or release), or necessary to be divulged in an action to enforce an interconnection agreement entered into pursuant to these procedures. Each Party receiving Confidential Information shall hold such information in confidence and shall not disclose it to any third party nor to the public without the prior written authorization from the Party providing that information, except to fulfill obligations under these procedures, or to fulfill legal or regulatory requirements.
32.4.5.2.1. Each Party shall employ at least the same standard of care to protect Confidential Information obtained from the other Parties as it employs to protect its own Confidential Information.
32.4.5.2.2. Each Party is entitled to equitable relief, by injunction or otherwise, to enforce its rights under this provision to prevent the release of Confidential Information without bond or proof of damages, and may seek other remedies available at law or in equity for breach of this provision.
32.4.5.3 Notwithstanding anything in this Section 32.4.5 to the contrary, and pursuant to 18 CFR § 1b.20, if FERC, during the course of an investigation or otherwise, requests information from one of the Parties that is otherwise required to be maintained in confidence pursuant to this Section 32.4.5, the Party shall provide the requested information to FERC, within the time provided for in the request for information. In providing the information to FERC, the Party may, consistent with 18 CFR § 388.112, request that the information be treated as confidential and non-public by FERC and that the information be withheld from public disclosure. Each Party is prohibited from notifying the other Parties prior to the release of the Confidential Information to FERC. The Party shall notify the other Parties when it is notified by FERC that a request to release Confidential Information has been received by FERC, at which time any of the Parties may respond before such information would be made public, pursuant to 18 CFR § 388.112. Requests from a state regulatory body conducting a confidential investigation shall be treated in a similar manner if consistent with the applicable state rules and regulations.
The NYISOISO shall receive, process and analyze all Interconnection Requests in a timely manner as set forth in this document. The NYISOISO and Connecting Transmission Owner shall use the same reasonable efforts in processing and analyzing Interconnection Requests from all Interconnection Customers, whether the Small Generating Facility is owned or operated by the Connecting Transmission Owner, its subsidiaries or affiliates, or others.
The NYISOISO and Connecting Transmission Owner shall maintain for three years records, subject to audit, of all Interconnection Requests received under these procedures, the times required to complete Interconnection Request approvals and disapprovals, and justification for the actions taken on the Interconnection Requests.
As soon as practicable upon completion of all required interconnection studies, or, if the Interconnection Customer elects to enter a Class Interconnection Facilities Study, upon completion of the decision process described in Section 25.8 of Attachment S for the Class Interconnection Facilities Study and acceptance by the Interconnection Customer of its Attachment S cost allocation, and satisfaction of the Security posting requirements described in Attachment S, the NYISOISO shall tender to the Interconnection Customer and Connecting Transmission Owner a draft Standard Small Generator Interconnection Agreement together with draft attachments completed to the extent practicable. Upon such tender, the Interconnection Customer shall provide the NYISOISO with an updated proposed Commercial Operation Date and In-Service Date, an updated proposed Initial Synchronization Date, and an updated proposed Commercial Operation Date. Such dates are subject to the limitations set forth in Section 30.4.4.5 of Attachment X to the OATT.
The draft Standard Small Generator Interconnection Agreement shall be in the form of the NYISOISO’s Commission-approved Standard Small Generator Interconnection Agreement, which is in Appendix 9 7 to this Attachment Z. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, if the Interconnection Customer does not sign the interconnection agreement, or ask that it be filed unexecuted within six (6) months after tender of the draft interconnection agreement, the Interconnection Request shall be deemed withdrawn. After the interconnection agreement is signed by the Parties, the interconnection of the Small Generating Facility shall proceed under the provisions of the interconnection agreement.
32.4.9 Termination of the Standard Small Generator Interconnection Agreement
The classification of a Small Generating Facility as Retired will be grounds for the termination of the Small Generator Interconnection Agreement (SGIA). The NYISOISO will file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a notice of termination of the SGIA as soon as practicable after the Small Generating Facility is Retired. The termination of a non-conforming pro forma SGIA will be effective only upon acceptance by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of the notice of termination and proposed effective date. Upon the effective date of the termination of the SGIA, access to the Point of Interconnection of the Small Generating Facility will be available on a non-discriminatory basis pursuant to the NYISOISO’s applicable interconnection and transmission expansion processes and procedures.
The NYISOISO shall coordinate the conduct of any studies required to determine the impact of the Interconnection Request on Affected Systems with Affected System operators, as soon as they are identified – either by their own accord, by the Connecting Transmission Owner, or by the ISO – and, if possible, include those results (if available) in its applicable interconnection study within the time frame specified in these procedures. The NYISOISO will include such Affected System operators in all meetings held with the Interconnection Customer as required by these procedures. The Interconnection Customer will cooperate with the NYISOISO and Connecting Transmission Owner in all matters related to the conduct of studies and the determination of modifications to Affected Systems. Each Affected System Operator and/or Affected System shall cooperate with the NYISOISO and Connecting Transmission Owner with whom interconnection has been requested in all matters related to the conduct of studies and the determination of modifications to Affected Systems. The Parties to this Agreement shall cooperate in good faith to provide each other, Affected System Operators and Affected Systems the information necessary to carry out the terms of the SGIP and the SGIA.
For identified Affected Transmission Owner(s) of facilities electrically adjacent to the Point of Interconnection and that have design criteria, operational criteria or other local planning criteria applicable to either (1) the substation to which the Interconnection Customer proposes to interconnect; or (2) the substation that will be required to be built to accommodate the interconnection, the ISO shall provide such Affected Transmission Owner(s) with the opportunity to review and provide comments on all study scopes, study reports and drafts thereof for the project, and will be included on communications regarding the project and meetings discussing the project or any of its studies, where such communications or meetings involve the ISO, Interconnection Customer and Connecting Transmission Owner. The ISO shall include in the appropriate interconnection study proposed studies requested by such an identified Affected Transmission Owner to the extent such studies are reasonably justified in accordance with Good Utility Practice.
32.4.11.1 If the Interconnection Request is for an increase in capacity for an existing Small Generating Facility, the Interconnection Request shall be evaluated on the basis of the new total capacity of the Small Generating Facility. The reliability impact of all increases in the capacity of an existing Small Generating Facility will be evaluated by applying the NYISO Minimum Interconnection Standard. An existing Small Generating Facility interconnected with Capacity Resource Interconnection Service may, over the life of the facility, increase its capacity by a total of 2 MW above its originally established Capacity Resource Interconnection Service capacity value without having the deliverability of that 2 MW increase evaluated under the NYISO Deliverability Interconnection Standard. The deliverability impact of all increases greater than 2 MW over the life of the facility will be evaluated by applying the NYISO Deliverability Interconnection Standard in accordance with the SGIP and Attachment S to the ISO OATT.
32.4.11.2 If the Interconnection Request is for a Small Generating Facility that includes multiple energy production devices at a site for which the Interconnection Customer seeks a single Point of Interconnection, the Interconnection Request shall be evaluated on the basis of the aggregate capacity of the multiple devices.
32.4.11.3 The Interconnection Request shall be evaluated using the maximum capacity that the Small Generating Facility is capable of injecting into the Connecting Transmission Owner’s electric system. However, if the maximum capacity that the Small Generating Facility is capable of injecting into the Connecting Transmission Owner’s electric system is limited (e.g., through the use of a control system, power relay(s), or other similar device settings or adjustments), then the Interconnection Customer must obtain the NYISOISO’s and Connecting Transmission Owner’s agreement, with such agreement not to be unreasonably withheld, that the manner in which the Interconnection Customer proposes to implement such a limit will not adversely affect the safety and reliability of the Connecting Transmission Owner’s system. If the Connecting Transmission Owner does not so agree, then the Interconnection Request must be withdrawn or revised to specify the maximum capacity that the Small Generating Facility is capable of injecting into the Connecting Transmission Owner’s electric system without such limitations. Furthermore, nothing in this section shall prevent a Connecting Transmission Owner from considering an output higher than the limited output, if appropriate, when evaluating system protection impacts.
Effective Date: 12/16/2017 - Docket #: ER18-80-000 - Page 1