Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

FERC accepted just part of PJM Interconnection’s compliance filing on how the grid operator would implement a Minimum Offer Price Rule, and remanded other sections during Thursday’s open meeting.  PJM’s proposal for implementing the price floor in its capacity auction had left space for renewables, nuclear power, and other beneficiaries of state subsidies to find their way into the 13-state power market’s auction.

FERC’s decision on Thursday almost certainly delays PJM’s capacity auction even further. In its compliance filing, PJM said it would hold its auction 6-1/2 months after FERC provided its approval, which would have set an auction for May. But FERC has now given PJM 30 days to respond to its concerns, and then the commission would need to approve those changes, pushing the auction into June or beyond.

Read for yourself: FERC finally released the text of the rule Thursday evening.

We’re open to it: FERC commissioners approved a policy statement that they are open to establishing market rules that will allow for putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions. The statement, which was not immediately released publicly, does not take action to implement a carbon price, but states that FERC would be open to a carbon price inside the RTOs and ISOs that it oversees. “It it is the policy of this Commission to encourage efforts to incorporate a state-determined carbon price in RTO/ISO markets,” the proposal says.

The agency’s willingness to accommodate a price on the greenhouse gas stands in stark contrast to the Trump administration’s opposition to implementing policies to combat climate change, Eric reports for Pros. The statement comes on the heels of last month’s FERCs technical conference on carbon pricing , where utility lawyers, power company investors and company executives agreed that the commission could account for carbon pricing under tariffs sought by grid operators.