FERC Approves Southwest Power Pool Proposal To Systematically Curtail Wind And Solar Resources

On September 20, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order conditionally accepting a proposal by Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) to begin systematic and automated curtailments of Non-Dispatchable Resources, including electric generation from wind and solar resources, during periods of congestion.  The order is designed to address the substantial increases in Non-Dispatchable Resources that have been experienced since the inception of the Energy Imbalance Service (EIS) market, as well as projections that an additional 4,000 MW of Non-Dispatchable Resources will be added to SPP's system over the next three years.  Under the new market rules, Non-Dispatchable Resources will be curtailed in SPP's EIS market based on their existing transmission service priority.  That priority is based on whether the Non-Dispatchable Resource is (i) scheduling against a transmission reservation, (ii) a Qualifying Facility (QF) exercising its rights under the