FERC Considers Whether To Modify Accounting System For Renewables

Through a Notice of Inquiry ("Notice")¹ approved at its January 19, 2021 open meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") asked whether its Uniform System of Accounts (individually, an "Account," and for more than one, "Accounts") should be modified to better reflect the circumstances of non-hydro renewable assets that rely on heat, or motion, of the earth or sun, such as facilities that rely on solar, wind, biomass and geothermal sources.  The Notice describes how various Account categories currently do not readily correspond to renewable equipment. The Notice observes that certain types of renewable equipment (e.g., solar panels and photovoltaic ("PV") inverters), and related maintenance expenditures (e.g., for solar panels, wind towers or their blades) do not fit well within existing descriptions of the Accounts.²