ELR Citation: ELR 20121
No(s). 04-1227 (D.C. Cir. Jun 23, 2006)

The court denies petitions for review of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) orders approving and enforcing a tariff supplied by the manager of New York's electric power transmission facilities that allows electricity generators that provide power to the transmission grid to avoid transmission and local distribution charges for the power these generators take from the grid for certain operational purposes so long as the power the generators produce in any month exceeds the power taken. The petitioners argued that FERC's approval of monthly netting is unlawful and unreasonable and that it should be supplanted with a one-hour netting period. But if, as petitioners argue, hourly netting is perfectly consistent with the statute, the court can find no principled reason why monthly netting violates the Federal Power Act. And the court fails to see how it could determine that a one-hour, a one-month, or even a one-week netting period would be unreasonable.