* Federal regulators approve cost allocation plan
* Entergy customers to pay for upgrades that benefit them
April 19 (Reuters) – U.S. federal energy regulators on
Thursday approved a power transmission cost allocation plan that
will allow Louisiana-based power company Entergy Corp’s
four-state Gulf Coast transmission system to join the Midwest
power grid.
Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) said
in a release the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC) decision will allow Entergy’s customers to pay only for
transmission projects that benefit them.
“This decision by FERC puts customers in the Entergy region
one step closer to realizing significant benefits from MISO
membership,” MISO President and CEO John Bear said in the
release.
Paying only for transmission upgrades that impact the
Entergy territory helps creates the savings for Entergy
customers, a concern raised by state regulators.
Bear said the ruling addresses “any uncertainty and doubt
around Entergy’s proposal to join MISO.”
Entergy decided to integrate its transmission system in
Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas into the 11-state
MISO power grid in April 2011.
The move comes at the insistence of Entergy’s state
regulators and follows a decade of complaints from independent
power producers trying to sell power and from utilities seeking
to import cheaper power from outside the Entergy system.
All of Entergy’s utilities, with the exception of Entergy
Texas, have filed for approval from state regulators to transfer
control of transmission assets to MISO by the end of 2013, but
no states have approved the transfer.
Entergy Texas is expected to make its filing by the end of
month or in early May.
To integrate Entergy’s Gulf Coast transmission system into
the Midwest power grid, MISO will have to use some transmission
lines in the neighboring Southwest Power Pool (SPP) grid.
SPP had wanted Entergy to join its grid and has since
opposed Entergy’s integration into the MISO.
SPP operates the power grid in all or parts of nine states,
including Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas,
Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.
Separately, Entergy in December 2011 agreed to sell its
transmission system to Michigan-based power transmission company
ITC Holdings Corp. ITC operates power systems in both
MISO and SPP and has stayed out of the Entergy-MISO-SPP battle.
Entergy must have state approval to join a grid operator to
complete the ITC deal, according to ITC officials.
