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Retail Supplier Files Complaint At FERC Against ISO, Utility Over Alleged "Phantom Load" Invoices
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BP Energy Retail Company LLC (BPERC) filed a complaint at FERC against ISO New England, Inc., Eversource Energy, and NSTAR Electric Company in which BPERC seeks relief from certain invoices issued by ISO-NE which are alleged to be, "based on phantom load incorrectly assigned to BPERC by Eversource Energy ('Eversource') and NSTAR Electric Company ('NSTAR') (together, 'Eversource/NSTAR')."
BPERC alleged that the phantom load invoices are, "apparently as a result of the
implementation of a new information management system by Eversource/NSTAR called 'Omni'
in or around June of 2024."
BPERC alleged, "BPERC properly
challenged these errors as they arose. BPERC believes that Eversource/NSTAR reported the same
basic issues to ISO-NE. ISO-NE corrected the overallocation in the Northeast Massachusetts
('NEMA') zone through the Meter Data Error RBA [Request for Billing Adjustment] Resettlements process; however, a second
over-allocation arose in the South East Massachusetts ('SEMA') zone for the first time that
improperly tagged BPERC with a total of 144,000 MWh of new load, resulting in additional direct
costs to BPERC of about $5,935,6723 for the period July-September 2024. If the Renewable
Portfolio Standard ('RPS') obligations related to this phantom load are not corrected, that could
increase the financial impact by an estimated additional $3,566,372 for a total impact of
$9,502,044. BPERC had no actual knowledge of this readjustment."
BPERC alleged, "ISO-NE states that the Request for Billing Adjustment ('RBA') is barred by the 101-day
limit on billing adjustments under its Manual M-28 directing BPERC to resolve discrepancies
outside of the ISO settlement framework. BPERC had no notice or opportunity to correct this
error, and as a result it has been saddled with millions of dollars in costs for load it does not serve,
despite the fact that it timely objected to prior phantom load allocations."
BPERC said, "At the outset, BPERC notes that it has worked with Eversource/NSTAR to attempt to
resolve this situation. BPERC will continue to do so. Eversource/NSTAR have expressed
willingness to resolve the load errors that are the subject of this Complaint and have agreed on the
volumes of over-inflated load allocations; however, to date, Eversource/NSTAR have provided
neither a process nor a timeline for any such resolution. Given the high cost of these inaccurate
load allocations to BPERC -- slightly under $10 million -- BPERC has filed this Complaint to
preclude any claim of waiver of any of its rights."
BPERC requested that FERC direct ISO-NE to nullify
the alleged phantom load charges, and to grant any and all necessary waivers of the ISO-NE tariff,
operating procedures, or protocols necessary to implement this result and to direct
Eversource/NSTAR to provide to ISO-NE corrected data to fix the actual SEMA load for BPERC during the time periods at issue and going forward.
BPERC argued that the instant case differs from prior FERC cases which have addressed load data errors in which FERC has declined to grant relief sought by the complainant retail suppliers
BPERC said, "The EDI data upon which ISO-NE bills its customers is not at issue in this matter. The
issue is not that the meters are broken or dysfunctional or poorly calibrated ... The cause is not the meter
itself but the Eversource/NSTAR system that tracks and reports load responsibilities and the impact of that system on the ISO-NE invoicing process. The specific error at issue in this case
creates a discrepancy between the EDI data used for customer billing purposes and the ISO-NE
invoices. This discrepancy creates the potential that the data errors at issue may create winners
and losers."
In a prior case brought by Liberty Power Holdings concerning a separate past-period load
allocation, FERC rejected the relief sought by Liberty Power Holdings. However, BPERC said that, in that prior case, "Eversource was
able to show that it had in fact provided [retail supplier] Liberty [Power Holdings, LLC] with timely notice of the error at issue."
In contrast, BPERC said, "Here,
although Eversource/NSTAR was subject to the duty to notify both ISO-NE and BPERC of the
errors at issue promptly under the ISO-NE Market Rules, Eversource/NSTAR did not do so or
were not able to do so because of issues with the Omni system. BPERC had no actual notice of
the last-minute shift of phantom load from NEMA to SEMA until RBA Resettlement volumes were received. BPERC attempted without success for months to seek an explanation from
Eversource/NSTAR for the repeated errors in load allocation it faced. None was provided on a
timely basis. To this day, Eversource/NSTAR have still not provided a detailed explanation."
"BPERC still does not
know how many times during July to September 2024 the load may have been inflated. Further,
as BPERC alleges, Eversource/NSTAR failed to comply with the requirements of Section 5.2 of
Manual M-28 by not providing prompt notice to BPERC of the disputes at issue. The strict
timelines in Manual M-28 assume that the market participants are adhering to those
responsibilities. If they are not or if they cannot comply with the requirements due to systems
issues, and if the disputes do not involve meter calibration or accuracy (as here) the general billing
dispute resolution policies should apply," BPERC said
"BPERC seeks only relief from charges it should not have borne in the first place for services
it did not and could not offer," BPERC said
BPERC requests no market-wide remedy
A media representative for ISO-NE said that ISO-NE is reviewing the filing
Docket EL26-5
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October 15, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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