FERC Addresses Uncertainty Around Simultaneous Locational Exchanges

On February 16, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) determined that simultaneous locational exchanges of wholesale electric power require prior FERC approval when the exchange involves the merchant function of a public utility transmission provider and its affiliated transmission provider's transmission system.¹ FERC's decision addresses uncertainty with respect to whether simultaneous locational exchanges include the provision of transmission service or are instead solely wholesale power sales. FERC determined that simultaneous locational exchanges that involve a merchant function's affiliated transmission system may enable the merchant function to perform transmission functions. For that reason, such exchanges require prior FERC approval following a caseby- case evaluation; exchanges that do not involve an affiliated transmission system are considered wholesale power sales that do not require such an evaluation.