posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2007 8:30 AM by Jennifer Rinker

Qualifying Facilities Seek Rehearing of Reliability Standards Applicability

The Cogeneration Association of California and the Energy Producers and Users Coalition and the Midland Cogeneration Venture Limited Partnership have sought rehearing of FERC's Order No. 696, which overhauled regulations governing small power production and cogeneration by eliminating previous exemptions of qualifying facilities (QFs) from compliance with the mandatory reliability standards of new section 215 of the Federal Power Act.

The rehearing requests contend that Order No. 696 discriminates against QFs by neglecting to assure QFs that they will be able to recover their costs of complying with the new standards.  In contrast, FERC did provide that assurance to traditional public utilities that own generation.  "[B]y saddling [QFs] with significant new reliability compliance costs without also providing a cost recovery mechanism," argue the challengers, the Commission is actually discouraging energy efficient cogeneration and renewable small power production technologies that FERC otherwise has a duty to promote under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, section 210 of the Federal Power Act, and the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The parties to the rehearing requests represent the interests of approximately 20 individual companies, including the likes of the El Paso Corporation,  BP West Coast Products, Inc., Chevron U.S.A. Inc., ConocoPhillips Company, ExxonMobil Power and Gas Services Inc., Shell Oil Products US, Kern River Cogeneration Company, Salinas River Cogeneration Company, and other additional small QFs in California.