State Perspectives on the Midwest ISO regional Stakeholder Process: The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission

Transcription

1 State Perspectives on the Midwest ISO regional Stakeholder Process: The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission October 21, 2010 Dave Johnston Beth Krogel Roads

2 Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (IURC) Authority for IURC regulation of utilities was created by the Indiana state legislature The Commission s mission is to assure that utilities and others use adequate planning and resources for the provision of safe and reliable utility services at a reasonable cost. [I.C ] 2 2

3 Personnel at the IURC 5 Commissioners (vote on orders) total employees 6 Administrative Law Judges (oversee cases) 2-3 General Counsel Attorneys (legal advice) 10 Electricity Division technical staff (provide technical advice on engineering, economic, accounting issues) 3 3

4 Creation of RTO/FERC Team IURC was involved in the formation of the Midwest ISO and its location in Carmel, Indiana IURC was involved in the formation of the Organization of MISO States (OMS) IURC Technical Staff has followed developments at the Midwest ISO (MISO) since its start t In 2008, the IURC reassessed our needs and created the RTO/FERC Team, consisting of one attorney, two technical staff, and the RTO Commissioner Team created due to the growing impact of regional and federal energy policies on Indiana 4 4

5 RTO/FERC Team Activities Covers both MISO and PJM Interconnection issues Attend many MISO stakeholder meetings in person and by phone Team charged with monitoring, evaluating and recommending policy and positions regarding regional and federal energy issues to the IURC Commissioners and others Participate in OMS work groups to develop positions and comments for the OMS states 5 5

6 RTO/FERC Team Activities (more) The Team prepares comments on behalf of the Commission and participates p in FERC regulatory proceedings that affect Indiana utilities and consumers Provide input to the RTOs when they are developing new markets and other products In addition to the responsibilities s listed above, the team provides counsel on docketed activities dealing with regional and federal energy issues that come before the IURC 6 6

7 How Regional and Wholesale Markets Affect State Regulatory Responsibilities States must understand the wholesale markets available to them to design a retail market structure Many states (but not all) approve changes in RTO membership or participation States must understand the wholesale markets in which their utilities operate in order to understand decisions utilities must make in their wholesale market activities Costs and revenues from the wholesale markets are passed through to customers through rates (either in base rates or tracking mechanisms) 7 7

8 How Regional and Wholesale Markets Affect State Regulatory Responsibilities (more) The IURC, as part of OMS, can advocate ways to shape the wholesale market to make it more efficient, which lowers costs to customers States decide value of reliability States determine adequacy of supply for future usage levels States make land use decisions for new facilities Balancing cost, need, and other land uses Bring public policy into these decisions May use criteria broader than the state May use other political criteria 8 8

9 Seams Issues: Midwest ISO (red) PJM Interconnection (blue) 9 9

10 IURC Role in Transmission Siting Unlike many states, the IURC does not have authority for approving the siting of transmission lines A utility obtains the right to site a transmission line through eminent domain and follows local county zoning laws The IURC does have authority over whether a company is approved to be a utility and thus have the right of eminent domain To date, no independent transmission company has filed at the IURC to obtain this authority 10 10

11 IURC role in wind integration The IURC approves the status of independent companies to operate wind generation farms The IURC approves purchase power agreements from some of these farms when Indiana utilities buy wind power to serve their customers Siting of wind farms is through the local counties 11 11

12 Indiana Issues Seams Issues Between Midwest ISO and PJM Transmission Rate Incentives approved by FERC RTO tariffs interacting with Indiana retail tariffs and customers Federal/FERC preemption of IURC jurisdiction Changes in RTO membership due to differences in RTOs 12 12