Divided FERC Abandons Long-Standing Precedent For Determining QF Capacity

On September 1, 2020, a sharply divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the "Commission") abandoned its long-standing approach for determining the "power production capacity" of a generation facility seeking small power production qualifying facility (QF) status under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA).¹ For years, FERC had held that the maximum energy output a facility could inject through its interconnection point—i.e., its "send out"—determined whether the facility complied with the 80 MW maximum "power production capacity" for small power production QF status under PURPA.² Now, the "power production capacity" for a facility not yet certified or self-certified as a small power production QF before September 1, 2020 will be the facility's "maximum net power production capacity" as calculated in Section 7 of FERC's Form No. 556 (Certification of Qualifying Facility (QF) Status for a Small Power Production or Cogeneration