FERC Denies Retail Supplier's Sought Penalty Waivers

FERC has denied a request from 3 Phases Energy Services, LLC for a waiver of Section 37.11.1 of the California Independent System Operator tariff, which imposes financial penalties on scheduling coordinators that submit untimely meter data.

3 Phases Energy said that CAISO subjected 3 Phases to a $83,000 total penalty as the result of correcting meter data associated with load 3 Phases served in 2013 during March, April, May and June.

3 Phases Energy said that corrections were required due to the provisions of incorrect meter data from PG&E in one instance, and a malfunctioning meter in another instance.

FERC said that, "3 Phases' waiver request does not satisfy the Commission's criteria because we are not persuaded that the submission of incorrect data by 3 Phases constitutes a good faith error."

"Although 3 Phases has access to the same meter data as its customers, 3 Phases states, without adequate justification, that its review process consists of looking at usage in the aggregate, and that it 'cannot reasonably analyze all individual customer account meter reads for each trading day.' Despite this claim, it is important to note that scheduling coordinators, such as 3 Phases, are obligated by the scheduling coordinator agreement to comply with CAISO's Tariff, which places ultimate responsibility for the accurate and timely submission of meter data on scheduling coordinators," FERC said.

At the time that it filed its request for the waiver in August 2014, 3 Phases said that it served less than 1,000 retail electric customers, and provides these customers electricity in the approximate range of 100,000 to 300,000 MWh annually.