FERC Won't Require Market-Based Rate Sellers (Retail Suppliers) To Obtain Legal Entity Identifier

In a final rule changing various requirements for market-based rate applications and filings, FERC declined to adopt an initial proposal that MBR Sellers must obtain a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

Retail suppliers typically require MBR authority due to balancing sales in FERC-jurisdictional RTOs

An LEI is a unique 20-digit alpha-numeric code assigned to a single entity. They are issued by the Local Operating Units of the Global LEI System, and include a cost to obtain

FERC had proposed to require MBR Sellers to obtain an LEI due to the proposed use of LEIs in database filings Sellers must make under the new rule

However, FERC will instead allow Sellers to use their "Company Identifier" (CID), which Sellers must already obtain

FERC also dropped its proposal that Sellers must report "Connected Entity Information" in the database

FERC will require that, as part of a market-based rate application or baseline submission, a Seller must identify through the relational database its ultimate upstream affiliate(s).

"Because this is a characteristic the Commission will rely upon in granting market-based rate authority, Sellers must also inform the Commission when they have a new ultimate upstream affiliate as part of their change in status reporting obligations," FERC said

Citing recent decisions (see story here), FERC said that the, "Commission has determined that the relationship between the Seller and its ultimate upstream affiliate(s) does not qualify for privileged treatment under the Commission’s regulations, particularly given that this affiliate relationship informs the horizontal and vertical market power analyses."

Docket No. RM16-17