Karen represents clients in the energy industry before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") through discovery, hearing, settlement, audit and informal investigation processes and procedures. Karen has particular experience with vertically-integrated utilities and transmission-related issues, such as compliance with national and regional reliability standards, open access transmission tariff (“OATT”) provisions, and FERC regulations related to Standards of Conduct (“SOC”), Code of Conduct and OASIS posting requirements. Karen regularly reviews and prepares transmission, interconnection and power contracts. Karen has examined in detail FERC’s incremental pricing and incentive rate treatment policies, as well as necessary revisions to transmission and interconnection queuing practices.
Representative Experience
Draft and file a complaint and petition for order under Section 211A of the Federal Power Act on behalf of a coalition of interconnection and transmission customers against a federal power marketing agency alleging discriminatory curtailment practices and interconnection agreement and OATT violations.
Assist in the preparation and filing of a public utility’s transmission rate case with FERC and provide support during the subsequent settlement and hearing procedures.
Represent utility and generator clients in Bonneville Power Administration wholesale power and transmission rate proceedings and in the subsequent final confirmation process at FERC and appeals process at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Represent utilities in Bonneville Power Administration formal Average System Cost Methodology ("ASCM") rulemaking proceedings and related proceedings at FERC.
Support several public utilities with the preparation and filing with FERC of unexecuted transmission and interconnection agreements involving disputes over the terms of said agreements.
Support utilities during reliability standards audits, including preparing utility subject matter experts for the audits, attending on-site audits, assisting with significant follow-up requests for information from regional reliability organizations, and drafting settlement documents.
Assist utilities with incident-related reliability standard compliance issues and investigations.
Counsel utilities on on-going compliance with national and regional reliability standards. Issues involve interpretation and application of standards to particular systems, compilation of appropriate evidence of compliance, and drafting and filing mitigation plans and self-reports.
Work on-site with the in-house legal counsel of a large, vertically-integrated public utility for six months.
Counsel utilities on issues related to the provision, pricing and tracking of ancillary services to third party and merchant customers under the OATT.
Provide advice to utilities regarding OATT point-to-point agreements and network service agreements. Counsel utilities regarding the use of pro forma agreements and non-conforming transmission service agreements.
Provide advice to utilities seeking to implement FERC's Order No. 890. Participate and prepare Order No. 890 compliance filings for utilities, including Attachment K (Planning Process) and Attachment C (ATC calculation) compliance filings.
Represent utilities before FERC in self-reports, audits, and informal investigations into SOC and OATT Compliance violations. Negotiate Stipulation and Consent Agreement resolving all issues of non-compliance. Advise utilities regarding development in internal compliance programs.
Represent utilities before FERC to reach successful resolution of SOC Hotline Complaints.
Counsel utilities on transmission pricing strategies in the context of transmission expansion projects, including consideration of FERC's incremental pricing and incentive rate treatment policies, as well as necessary revisions to transmission and interconnection queuing practices.
Counsel utilities on competition-related issues, such as market-based rate authority for generators.
Publications
Interconnection Queuing Practices: FERC Encourages Regional Solutions to Address Concerns with “First-Come, First-Served” Approach (January 2008, Transmission Monthly).
Project Cost Relative to Recent and Historical Transmission Investment: the Primary Measure of “Routineness” under FERC Transmission Pricing Policy (August 2007, Transmission Monthly).
FERC Transmission Pricing Policy on Small to Mid-Sized Projects (May 2007, Transmission Monthly).
Transmission Pricing Incentives: Major Projects to Reap Benefits: Future Not so Clear For Smaller Projects (January 2007, Transmission Monthly).