Market-Based Wholesale Power Rates in Court

Michael Giberson

The activist group Public Citizen made its case in federal court Wednesday for a requirement that all wholesale electricity rates be filed in advance and assessed on how reasonable they are, rather than blanket approvals being issued for fluctuating market-based rates in competitive markets.

Public Citizen told the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is failing to exercise its responsibilities under the Federal Power Act to assure that rates are just and reasonable. ...

[Public Citizen attorney Lynn Hargis said] that market behavior rules were not enough, because they did not control rates. "Whether you like it or not, [Congress] has chosen rate regulation," she said, and that required FERC to assess filed rates, not rely on behavior rules, in her view.

Via Platts (registration required).

For another perspective on what needs to be done now in federal wholesale power markets policy, try Paul Joskow's remarks delivered at FERC's technical conference on competition in wholesale power.