Dive Brief:
- On Thursday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a ruling stating that Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) rules create an "unreasonable obstacle" for small renewable power projects.
- The FERC ruling was not an enforcement action, but a declaratory ruling under which the Montana PSC can change its rule or face legal action from projects seeking enforcement.
- At issue is a 22-year-old PSC rule that says that any independent renewable project bigger than 3 MW that wants to sell power to Montana utilities must do so through a competitive bidding process. The PSC also caps wind projects' generating capacity at 50 MW.
Dive Insight:
Northwestern Energy, the state's largest electric utility, supports the rules. The rules, the utility says, protect utilities from being forced into contracts with renewable developers to buy power they don't need at above-market prices.
Northwestern also pointed out that FERC did not overturn the rules. “The Montana rule still stands,” said spokeswoman Claudia Rapkoch. “It will be up to the judicial system to make any further disposition, if the [project developers] choose to pursue it.”