What's Happening in Energy highlights the most interesting findings from public utility commission filings.
What's Happening in Energy — Feb12
Powered by Halcyon
____
ERCOT is moving forward with its “Batch Zero” concept to replace the current case-by-case large load interconnection study process to a new batch process. Instead of studying and endlessly restudying individual requests after other loads request interconnection (see figure below), ERCOT will:
“ERCOT plans to perform a transitional “Batch Zero” study for loads that are at risk of being restudied in the current Large Load Interconnection process.”
After this, ERCOT will start the batch study process. Batch Zero will commence this summer and Batch 1 of the new process at the beginning of Q3 2027 (target energization Q3 2028).
Check out the summary from the well-attended February 3rd workshop with over 174 people “in the room” and over 600 virtual attendees.
For the full resolution image, check out the presentation linked below.
____
In Massachusetts, New England Natural Gas (d/b/a Liberty) filed a primer on securitization in a proceeding on transitioning from gas and stranded costs recovery. The primer, prepared for local gas distribution companies by Atrium Economics, includes a chart that breaks down the $82 billion of securitized bonds IOUs have issued since 1997 by purpose and face value. The majority of securitization dollars have gone to finance expenses from extreme weather and the transition to retail competition.
____
In Colorado, multiple parties, including Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo / Xcel Colorado), filed a motion for the Public Utilities Commission to approve PSCo’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for Pawnee, a 250 MW solar + 200 MW battery project in Morgan County, Colorado.
Halcyon angle: The application, if approved, would subject the project to Performance Incentive Mechanisms (PIMs). We asked Halcyon to concisely explain how these PIMs would work, and to provide a simple example. Check out the response.
____
In Florida, multiple parties filed a Joint Request for Reconsideration of the Public Service Commission’s Final Order approving Florida Power & Light’s (FPL) $945 million rate increase. We asked Halcyon to summarize the positions of the parties and define any acronyms. The response categorized the parties’ issues into three buckets– legal/procedural errors, factual errors, and insufficient deliberation–and summarized the main procedural milestones leading up to the Final Order issued by the PSC on January 22, 2026.
____
In PJM, at a workshop on February 5th, stakeholders discussed two new Contract Demand Service (CDS) arrangements–firm and non-firm–for co-locating large loads. Check out the helpful diagrams explaining the two services.
The workshop also included discussions over the distinction between co-located loads and loads with behind-the-meter-generation (BTMG). Check out the Halcyon response explaining the distinction between the two.
____
In Oregon, seven of 10 parties in a Portland General Electric (PGE) proceeding have filed a “First Partial Stipulation” resolving key issues related to interconnection and tariff for large loads. The parties–including PGE, the Oregon Public Utility Commission Staff, the Alliance of Western Energy Consumers, Amazon, Climate Solutions, the Data Center Coalition, and the Oregon Citizens’ Utility Board–found common ground on rate design, marginal cost allocation, and minimum size eligibility. If approved, the stipulation would adopt PGE’s proposed rate design for Schedule 96, the large load tariff, and establish a 20 MW minimum threshold for the ”Large Load Customer Agreement” (LLCA).
Halcyon angle: On February 4th, parties filed Opening briefs stating their positions on the issues addressed in the proceeding. We filtered the docket filings to this date and queried the resulting documents to get a summary of the parties’ positions on the First Partial Stipulation. Check out Halcyon’s response here.
Read the full stipulation below. And for more where this came from, check out Halcyon’s Large Load Tariff Tracker.
____
In ISO-New England, a working group on distributed generation forecasts presented an hourly forecast of behind-the-meter (BTM) battery response to peaks in 2040. The hourly BESS profile is based on 70 years of historical weather for each year of the forecast horizon. Check out the example shown below for Connecticut participating in a retail-based peak-shaving program with BESS and DER PV. Also check out the interesting 2026 DER forecasts visuals linked below.
____
In Texas, direct testimony was due this week for Texas‑New Mexico Power Company’s (TNMP) rate case. The Data Center Coalition (DCC) is concerned about TNMP’s reach behind-the-meter (BTM) with a new section concerning behind-the-meter generation arrangements in its tariff.
DCC’s concern: “Overall, I believe that the terms proposed are vague, introduce confusion and seem to restrict or prohibit a wide range of potential customer solutions that rely on on-site and behind-the-meter resources.”
DCC submitted a request for information to explain TNMP reasoning for its proposed BTM language like in subsection C (page 13 and below left) and subsection D (page 14 and below right):
____
In South Carolina, seven months ago, Duke Energy Carolinas (DEC) and Duke Energy Progress (DEP) applied to merge into a single North and South Carolina utility. Duke requested a final order by May 1, 2026, so the approved business combination can take effect on January 1, 2027.
Rates won't change on Day 1 (January 1, 2027). Instead, the combined utility plans to gradually "converge retail base rates over the course of multiple rate cases."
Despite this gradualism approach, intervenors are already submitting a wish list for rate/tariff changes and highlighting misalignments between the two utilities. The diagram below shows how the utilities' kilowatt thresholds differ for non-residential customer classes.
On the wish list for tariffs?
rates for EV public charging at 3rd party locations (Walmart)
____
In Missouri, Evergy Missouri Metro’s rate case includes a request for a Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIPS) / cybersecurity tracker to recover incremental, prudently incurred security costs (base level $4,492,878) needed to respond quickly to evolving cyber / physical threats—beyond point-in-time compliance. We asked Halcyon to explain Evergy’s justification (a hint: it references Russian and Chinese hackers, non-state actors, etc.).
__
In Maryland, Baltimore Gas & Electric (BG&E) provided initial testimony in the "future of gas" docket, explaining the impact of shortening the 70-year depreciation of gas mains. BGE stated,
“From a cost recovery perspective, this means that the underlying depreciation rates for gas mains take into account the assumption that it will take roughly 70 years to fully recover the costs of gas mains once they are placed in service. Should the Commission choose to shorten the estimated useful lives of any of the asset classes noted above, the depreciation rate(s) would increase and result in higher annual depreciation expense to be recovered from customers – but would lessen the risk of stranded costs paid for by a smaller customer base in the future.”
Read a summary of least-regrets moves to limit exposure to stranded assets and higher-per-customers gas infrastructure costs.
__
In Nevada, extensive testimony has been filed on NV Energy’s proposal to amend its 2025-2027 Energy Supply Plan and participate in CAISO’s Extended Day-Ahead Market (EDAM). An upcoming hearing is scheduled for March 10th.
Halcyon angle: Halcyon helps untangle the flood of testimonies filed simultaneously. Read Halcyon’s summary of Commission Regulatory Operations Staff, industry stakeholder testimony (Powerex, Nevada Gold Mines, multiple Casinos, Southern Nevada Water Authority, Google), advocates (Advanced Energy United, Western Resource Associates, Bureau of Consumer Protection), and Southwest Power Pool, which has a competing market offering (Markets+) to EDAM.
In Louisiana, the public weighed in on the proposed Argent LNG project in Lafourche Parish. One comment from a representative of RESTORE (Restore Explicit Symmetry To Our Ravaged Earth) is strongly opposed:
Most Heavily Redacted Filing of the Week