FERC Grants New York Generators Make-Whole Payments Above $1,000, Calls Cost Increase "Appropriate"

Despite the ostensible obligations placed on capacity suppliers, FERC unsurprisingly granted the New York ISO's petition to grant make-whole payments to generators with costs in excess of $1,000/MWh.

The granted waiver is limited to the period from January 22, 2014 through February 28, 2014.

"The waiver addresses the concrete problem that generators might be required to provide service to support reliability but without being able to recoup the incremental operating costs that they incur, which would discourage generators from offering service at a time when they are needed," FERC said.

"[A]lthough granting waiver may result in increased costs to load and increased cost to certain market participants if generators incur verifiable actual energy production costs above $1,000/MWh, we find that it is appropriate to allow generators to recover such costs in this exigent circumstance," FERC said.

FERC did not require NYISO to allow offers in excess of $1,000/MWh to set LMP.

FERC found that uplift is a "reasonable" method of recovering the make-whole payments.

ER14-1138