Energy Choice
                            

Matters

PSC Denies Utility's Attempt To Compel Disclosure Of Retail Suppliers' Capacity Compliance Showings

May 10, 2017

Email This Story
Copyright 2010-17 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

The Michigan PSC denied a request from Consumers Energy which had sought to compel the disclosure of retail electric suppliers' confidential resource adequacy compliance showings filed with the PSC

The PSC, in an order issued on January 12, 2017, had called upon electric utilities regulated by the Commission, alternative electric suppliers, utility affiliates, and certain power supply cooperatives and associations to submit a self-assessment of their ability to meet their customers’ expected electric requirements (and associated reserves) during the five-year period of 2017 through 2021

On April 28, 2017, Consumers Energy filed a motion to compel the production of documents filed by retail suppliers in relation to the PSC's order (including Direct, Constellation, Calpine, and FirstEnergy Solutions), under a protective order

Consumers cited recently adopted statues concerning retail suppliers' and utilities' capacity obligations, and said that, in order to provide comments on the suppliers' capacity self-assessments, it requested production of the filings made confidentially.

In response, the suppliers noted that they have voluntarily filed self-assessment reports since the inception of these reliability plan proceedings. They pointed out that the proceeding is not a contested case, thus giving them no avenue to dispute another party’s filing or comments, to cross-examine witnesses or test evidence, to seek discovery, or to make legal arguments. The suppliers contended that the voluntary provision of information to the PSC Staff does not confer a right to discovery on other parties to the same Commission investigation.

The suppliers further pointed out that Consumers makes plain that it seeks this information for use in another proceeding, namely the Section 6w proceeding opened by the Commission for Consumers in Case No. U-18239, which is a contested docket in which all of the parties to the instant dispute are intervenors. Noting that the instant docket is an uncontested docket, the suppliers maintain that the Commission should not allow Consumers to obtain material in the instant docket for use in another one. The suppliers contend that the State Reliability Mechanism (SRM) capacity charge is not the subject of the instant proceeding, and that the procedural protections offered by the Michigan Administrative Procedures Act (APA), MCL 24.201 et seq., do not apply to the instant uncontested proceeding.

In addressing Consumers' motion, the PSC said, "As a result of the passage of Act 341, this is the last annual capacity investigation docket in which the Commission requested alternative electric suppliers to voluntarily provide information regarding their present and future capacity plans. On April 20, 2017, Section 6w of Act 341 became effective, and in another multi-captioned order issued today, the Commission commences a series of technical conferences for the purpose of determining how Section 6w will be implemented and what evidence will be required in order to make the demonstration mandated by MCL 460.6w(8) for utilities, alternative electric suppliers, electric cooperatives, and municipally-owned electric utilities. The Commission has not yet determined what resources shall be counted in the capacity demonstration determinations required under that section, and this motion to compel cannot be used to further that discussion."

The PSC denied Consumers' motion to compel

"The Commission agrees with the AESs and finds that Consumers’ motion should be denied. The AESs’ participation in these annual reliability plan investigations has always been voluntary. While Act 341 has changed that situation, the capacity demonstrations required from the AESs (and the utilities) and the determination and implementation of the SRM capacity charges will not occur until 2018. The order issued today in Case No. U-18197 et al. seeks comments on threshold issues, and sets a schedule for additional comments and a series of technical conferences for establishing the capacity demonstration process," the PSC said

"In its motion, Consumers states that it seeks the AESs’ confidential information as a result of the passage of Section 6w of Act 341. Consumers even attempts to use the motion to decide the issue of what constitutes a sufficient demonstration. The Commission finds that this is premature and inappropriate. This docket is not the place where a decision on the sufficiency of the AESs’ capacity holdings will be made. For Consumers to use the confidential information to try to demonstrate an insufficiency, or indeed to argue over any issue related to its SRM capacity charge, would be a violation of the Protective Order. Given that Consumers has evinced such an intention in its motion, the motion must be denied. This docket is an uncontested investigation. Decisions regarding the sufficiency of a capacity demonstration and the amount of an SRM capacity charge applicable to any entity will be made in contested dockets after the conclusion of the technical conferences. Undoubtedly, the confidential information sought by Consumers from the AESs, or similar confidential information, will be disclosed and that evidence will be tested in those proceedings. This docket is not the forum for those issues, and discovery 'is neither a weapon nor a means of obtaining information to be used in another forum,'" the PSC ruled

Case No. U-18197

ADVERTISEMENT
NEW Jobs on RetailEnergyJobs.com:
• NEW! -- Director, Regulatory Compliance -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Sales & Marketing Manager -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Sr. Energy Consultant
• NEW! -- Manager of Regulatory Affairs -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Sales Support Specialist Energy Solutions -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Paralegal, Regulatory Affairs -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Corporate Counsel -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- EDI Transactions Manager -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Director of Channel Sales -- Retail Supplier
• NEW! -- Sales Manager -- Retail Supplier -- New York
• NEW! -- Sales Manager -- Retail Supplier -- MA / NJ
• NEW! -- Sales Agent -- Retail Supplier -- Multiple markets
• NEW! -- Customer Retention -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Regulatory Response I/C -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Channel Manager, Sales -- Retail Supplier -- Houston
• NEW! -- Commercial Sales B2B -- Retail Energy
• NEW! -- Brand/Marketing/Channel Manager -- Retail Energy
• NEW! -- Business Development Professional -- Retail Supplier -- Houston