On October 19, 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) in Docket RM23-9 proposing various changes to the current Electric Quarterly Reports (EQR).
Systrends—alongside several public utilities, grid operators, and other energy companies—submitted comments this week. As anticipated given the Commission’s three preceding User Group and Technical Conferences beginning in 2020, industry participants are generally on board with the transition to XBRL-CSV and most of the proposed changes to the data fields and definitions.
Examining the substance of the 15 submissions to the FERC, the following stood out:
Reception to XBRL-CSV Format: Nearly all companies and representatives are aligned with the proposed XBRL-CSV format for EQRs, but many expressed a desire to understand the submission mechanism with more clarity. Of note, several parties have requested that the FERC host another technical conference before issuing the final rule.
Reduce Restriction on Seller Contact: Almost all comments agreed that requiring the contact person to have Account Manager status in the company registration was too strict in nature. Given the accord among the industry and standard operating procedures among many public utilities, we anticipate the Commission will retract this change.
Clearly Define “Material Changes”: There is consensus among those who submitted comments that the FERC needs to provide a clearer definition of “Material Changes” concerning the refiling policy, particularly considering the extension of the refiling requirement from three years to five.
Concerns about Refiling Look-Back Period: Some comments expressed reservation regarding the five-year refiling look-back period. Of note, CAISO highlighted that issues may arise if the data required by the new system was not recorded by the entity in question prior to the transition. In that case, the FERC may need to make exceptions to enable market participants to remain compliant.
Qualifying Facilities: Most comments, prominently featuring EEI’s, pushed back on the proposed requirement to report EQR data for Qualifying Facilities (QFs). Many do not see the need for it and stated that it may even stand in opposition to the FERC’s jurisdiction.
Given the relatively light volume of comments and general agreement with the FERC’s proposed revisions to the EQR, Systrends anticipates the Commission will adopt most of the NOPR without further revision. With that in mind, the Commission may be able to publish the final rule (or host a final technical conference) by June or July as we had initially anticipated.
Systrends will continue to stay informed on further developments to the proposed rule change. If you’d like to explore how the final rule may impact your organization, please reach out to our experienced team!