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ARTICLE · 31 JANUARY 2015

FERC Order On Initial Decision An Important Victory For Wind Developers Looking To Challenge Interconnection Costs

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FERC recently reversed an ALJ's initial decision and found that MISO violated its obligation with respect to the study of network upgrades by requiring Jeffers South, LLC...

United StatesEnergy and Natural Resources
Foley & Lardner
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FERC recently reversed an ALJ's initial decision and found that MISO violated its obligation with respect to the study of network upgrades by requiring Jeffers South, LLC to pay for the construction of a $43 million transmission line to interconnect its 130 MW wind facility in Minnesota (a copy of the order is available here). This order should provide comfort to wind developers in MISO that they will not be on the hook for upgrades beyond what is needed for the project and that any system-wide benefits a developer must fund are those that directly result from upgrades needed to interconnect the project.

MISO originally evaluated the facility's interconnection request in combination with other pending projects as part of a larger System Impact Study. Both the facility's developer and transmission owner rejected this study and commissioned their own study; however, other transmission owners impacted by the interconnection request rejected that study as well

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