(San Francisco, CA) PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) announced
today that it had filed comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, supporting the commission’s Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NOPR) on Standard Market Design (SMD).
In its filing, PG&E Corp. stated that the Commission’s
efforts to amend its regulations under the Federal Power Act would
remedy undue discrimination in the provision of interstate transmission
services, and facilitate development of electric wholesale energy
markets in all regions across the nation. Reform is necessary to
ensure there is a well-functioning wholesale market that will ultimately
benefit consumers.
Specifically, PG&E Corp. fully supports the following elements
in the Commission's proposed SMD:
- Creating an Independent Transmission Provider (ITP) that will
administer the day-ahead and real-time energy and ancillary services
markets while providing transmission services under the SMD tariff.
- Replacing the existing Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT)
with Network Access Service to better service bundled retail
customers.
- The use of Locational Marginal Pricing to manage congestion
on transmission systems.
- An independent market monitoring function that reports to the
Commission on all facets of the market, including the behavior
of the ITP.
PG&E Corp. also made several recommendations to the Commission
for consideration. The Company asked the Commission to consider
the following:
A strengthening of the current reciprocity provisions under which
non-jurisdictional owners or operators of interstate transmission
facilities must offer comparable services in return for taking
service under a public utility’s OATT.
- Expressly clarifying that the costs resulting from the new
market rules should be recoverable by transmission owners that
honor
transmission contracts that pre-date Order No. 888, thereby
removing disincentives for contract conversions to the new SMD
tariff.
- Recognizing and accepting differences between the Western and
Eastern Interconnections for a transition period, including
the continuation
of the price mitigation currently in place in the Western markets.
“
PG&E Corp. strongly supports the Commission in its efforts
to implement an improved and standardized market design for the
electricity industry.”
“PG&E Corp. agrees that reform is absolutely essential
to ensure that there is a well-functioning wholesale market that
will benefit consumers, and supports the effort to implement structural
changes to market design necessary to create large electric power
markets in which power is bought and sold pursuant to standardized
open access tariffs and practices.”