FERC Grants CAISO Waiver Request For DRAM Resources Impacted By Availability Hours Change

On March 29, 2018, FERC issued an order granting a limited tariff waiver request by the California Independent System Operator Corporation ("CAISO") relating to participation requirements for certain demand response resources in the California Public Utilities Commission's ("CPUC") Demand Response Auction Mechanism ("DRAM") with delivery obligations between April-October in 2018 and 2019. The waiver, which was necessitated by recent changes in CAISO's resource adequacy program, will allow CPUC-identified DRAM resources to meet their contractual and regulatory obligations. In granting the waiver, however, FERC stated that DRAM contracts executed after the date of the order and that do not conform with current CAISO requirements should not be eligible for the waiver.