Summaries of the agenda items for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s monthly open meeting to be held on September 18, 2025, pursuant to the sunshine notice released on September 11, 2025.
In this issue…
- Electric Items
- Hydro Items
Electric
E-1 – Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standard CIP-003-11 – Cyber Security – Security Management Controls (Docket No. RM25-8-000). On December 20, 2024, pursuant to Section 215(d)(1) of the Federal Power Act (FPA) and Section 39.52 of the Commission’s regulations, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) filed for approval of proposed Reliability Standard CIP-003-11 (Cyber Security – Security Management Controls). In its filing, NERC stated that the purpose of Reliability Standard CIP-003 is to specify consistent and sustainable security management controls that establish responsibility and accountability to protect BES Cyber Systems (BCS) against compromise that could lead to misoperation or instability in the Bulk Electric System (BES). NERC argued that proposed Reliability Standard CIP-003-11 would mitigate the risks posed by a coordinated attack utilizing distributed low impact BES Cyber Systems by adding controls to authenticate remote users; protecting the authentication information in transit; and detecting malicious communications to or between assets containing low impact BES Cyber Systems with external routable connectivity. Agenda item E-1 may be an order on NERC’s proposed Reliability Standard CIP-003-11.
E-2 – Virtualization Reliability Standards (Docket No. RM24-8-000). On July 10, 2024, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) submitted for filing eleven proposed Reliability Standards and supplemental information to the petition for approval of Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards. NERC stated that these proposed standards and definitions improve upon the current standards and definitions by further refining the requirements’ focus on cyber security through: (1) the use of objectives to permit use of a broader variety of security controls tailored to an organization’s technologies, (2) revision of requirements that focused more on compliance documentation, and (3) clarification of issues identified during implementation of prior versions of CIP Reliability Standards. On May 20, 2025, NERC submitted an errata to five of the proposed eleven CIP Reliability Standards. Agenda item E-2 may be an order on the proposed CIP Reliability Standards.
E-3 – North American Electric Reliability Corporation (Docket No. RD25-7-000). On April 10, 2025, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) submitted a petition for approval of proposed Reliability Standard EOP-012-3. The proposed Reliability Standard EOP-012-3 is a cold-weather reliability standard promoting the reliability of the Bulk Electric System (BES) in North America. On May 12, 2025, the ISO/RTO Council (IRC) submitted comments, generally supporting the proposed reliability standard but requested that the Commission clarify its expectation with respect to one particular component of EOP-012-3, specifically that the Commission should recognize the need for additional work to ensure that appropriate and effective compliance mechanisms are established as part of the implementation of the revised standard. On May 12, 2025, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) filed comments, raising concerns regarding proposed generator cold weather preparedness Reliability Standard EOP-012-3, specifically several of the circumstances that may qualify as Case-by-Case Determinations of Generator Cold Weather Constraints under Attachment 1 to the proposed standard. UCS requested that the Commission direct NERC to make certain changes to the standard, including removing or revising several of the situations on the case-by-case list. On May 28, 2025, NERC filed a reply to UCS’ comments and argued that the Commission should not direct the changes requested by UCS. Agenda item E-3 may be an order on proposed Reliability Standard EOP-012-3.
E-4 – Supply Chain Risk Management Reliability Standards Revisions; Equipment and Services Produced or Provided by Certain Entities Identified as Risks to National Security (Docket Nos. RM24-4-000; RM20-19-000). On September 19, 2024, in Docket No. RM24-4-000, the Commission issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) to direct the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization, to develop and submit for approval new or modified Reliability Standards that address the sufficiency of responsible entities’ supply chain risk management plans related to the identification of, assessment of, and response to supply chain risks, and applicability of Reliability Standards’ supply chain protections to protected cyber assets. On November 22, 2024, NERC and the Regional Entities submitted its comments to the NOPR. On March 20, 2025, the Commission hosted a Supply Chain Workshop among the parties, focusing on the “assessment” aspect of supply chain risk management (SCRM) and to discuss the proposed NOPR directive to require entities establish steps in SCRM plans to validate the completeness and accuracy of information received from vendors during the procurement process to better inform the identification and assessment of supply chain risks associated with vendors’ software, hardware, or services. On May 13, 2025, the Commission published the transcript from the March 20 workshop. Subsequently, over 20 industry participants submitted comments in response to the NOPR and the Supply Chain Workshop. On September 17, 2020, the Commission issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) in Docket No. RM20-19-000 seeking comments on the potential risks to the bulk electric system posed by using equipment and services produced or provided by entities identified as risks to national security. The NOI sought comments on: (i) the extent to which equipment and services provided by such entities are used in the operation of the bulk electric system; (ii) the risks to bulk electric system reliability and security posed by the use of equipment and services; (iii) whether the current Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards adequately mitigate the identified risks; and (iv) possible actions the Commission could consider to further address the identified risks. Over 25 industry participants submitted comments. Agenda item E-4 may be an order on the NOPR and NOI with respect to Reliability Standards covering supply chain protections to cyber assets.
E-5 – New York Independent System Operator, Inc. (Docket No. ER25-1812-000). On March 28, 2025, the New York Independent System Operator, Inc. (NYISO) submitted a compliance filing pursuant to Order No. 904 as issued by the Commission on October 17, 2024. Specifically, Order No. 904 instructed NYISO to effectuate revisions to its Market Administration and Control Area Services Tariff (Tariff) in order to eliminate compensation to resources for the provision of reactive power within a standard power factor range of 0.95 lagging to 0.95 leading. Additionally, NYISO proposed to eliminate charges to transmission customers, customers, and load serving entities (LSEs) for the provision of reactive power within the referenced power factor range. NYISO also stated that, in the proposed revisions to its Tariff, it addressed the potential implications of the change on its Installed Capacity Demand Curves for the 2025-2029 “reset period.” A number of stakeholders filed motions to intervene. On April 18, 2025, the New York Department of State Utility Intervention Unit (UIU) filed a protest, contending that the Commission should reject the proposed Tariff revisions and require that NYISO implement a compensation structure that reflects an actual delivered reactive service that falls outside of the standard power factor range. UIU stated that the Commission should not allow compensation to a generator for providing reactive power if it falls outside of the standard power factor range and there is no effective interconnection agreement enabling such payment. On May 7, 2025, NYISO filed an answer to the UIU protest, asserting that its proposed compensation structure for reactive power support outside of the standard power factor range remains just and reasonable. Agenda item E-5 may be an order on the NYISO compliance filing in accordance with Order No. 904.
E-6 – Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (Docket No. ER22-1697-003). On April 28, 2022, Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) submitted its initial compliance filing with respect to Order No. 2222. On March 1, 2024, the Commission issued an order accepting the compliance filing, subject to a further compliance filing and information filing to be filed by April 30, 2024. On March 18, 2024, SPP filed a request to extend the deadline of the further compliance filing to August 28, 2024, in order to engage with stakeholders and perform the additional analysis noted in the order, which the Commission granted on March 26, 2024. On March 29, 2024, American Electric Power Service Corporation, Evergy, Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, and Xcel Energy (collectively, the Joint Utilities) filed a request for rehearing of the March 1 order. In the rehearing request, the Joint Utilities allege that SPP has indeed satisfied the locational requirements of Order No. 2222, despite the Commission finding it had failed to. The Joint Utilities assert that SPP demonstrated that a single-node aggregation of distributed energy resources is the only suitable option in SPP, and, pursuant to Order No. 2222, provided a "detailed, technical explanation" to support that design. Additionally, the Joint Utilities request clarification on the effective date for Order No. 2222 compliance; per the March 1 order, SPP was directed to propose an effective date in the third quarter of 2025. The Joint Utilities referred to the length of time that passed during the initial Order No. 2222 compliance filing (15 months) and, accordingly, expressed concern that the Commission has imposed an impractical and unattainable effective date given the similar length of time for compliance. On June 27, 2024, the Commission issued an order addressing the arguments raised on rehearing and granting clarification in part. The order modified the prior discussion but retained the same result in the proceeding, such that SPP is able to move to extend time to implement its Order No. 2222 compliance proposal and that the Commission would not prejudge any such potential motion. On December 13, 2024, SPP filed its compliance filing pursuant to Order No. 2222, requesting an effective date of December 31, 9998 (i.e., in order to allow SPP staff to develop and implement the necessary software systems). SPP stated that its proposed implementation date is the second quarter of 2030. Several stakeholders filed comments responsive to the compliance filing, including concerns with respect to the proposed multi-nodal model for locational requirements as well as its proposed revision to double counting restrictions to permit a distributed energy resource in participating in retail programs and markets. Agenda item E-6 may be an order on the Order No. 2222 compliance filing by SPP.
E-7 – Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (Docket No. ER16-1341-003). On April 1, 2016, SPP filed a petition in order to waive certain provisions of its Tariff related to the implementation of the revenue crediting process in Attachment Z2 for the historical period due to the delay in development of the necessary software. Section I.7.1 of the SPP Tariff furnished the reasons and methods for billing adjustments, such as a one-year limitation in the adjustment of past invoices. Attachment Z2 in the SPP Tariff contains the provisions for revenue credits which compensate entities that pay for Network Upgrades subsequently used to provide transmission service, and specifically, that a Creditable Upgrade is to considered one that was paid for, in whole or in part, through revenues collected from customers through Directly Assigned Costs. Accordingly, SPP sought a waiver to implement a clarified revenue crediting process and recalculate, collect, and pay revenue credits. On July 7, 2016, the Commission granted the waiver petition, finding that SPP had provided sufficient notice to stakeholders during the process and that transmission customers in SPP had benefited from upgrades that were paid for by upgrade sponsors without having provided compensation to those sponsors during the historical period. Several parties filed respective requests for rehearing of the July 7 order. On November 6, 2017, the Commission issued an order denying the rehearing requests. On February 28, 2019, the Commission issued an order on remand, stemming from a decision by the United Stated Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit) relating to the notification and statements used by Old Dominion that it had argued were tantamount to tariff language furnished by the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM). The DC Circuit ruled that a statement posted on the PJM website did not constitute adequate notice. Subsequently, the Commission sought voluntary remand due to the determination of the DC Circuit (i.e., certain unofficial communications and notices did not adhere to the filed rate doctrine). Ultimately, the order on remand found that the Commission is unable to grant the waiver request of section I.7.1 of the SPP Tariff due to the filed rate doctrine. On June 28, 2019, SPP filed a compliance report detailing the proposed plan for implementing refunds under Attachment Z2 for the historical period. On August 5, 2025, certain project sponsors filed a request for prompt action by the Commission in order to stop the accrual of interest on the refund portion of the SPP proposal. Agenda item E-7 may be an order on the SPP compliance report.
E-8 – PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (Docket No. ER24-98-002). On October 13, 2023, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) submitted proposed revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) and the Reliability Assurance Agreement (RAA), pursuant to section 205 of the Federal Power Act (FPA). Specifically, PJM sought to enhance the rules governing the Market Seller Offer Cap (MSOC) by: 1) establishing a standardized methodology to calculate unit-specific Capacity Performance Quantifiable Risk; 2) allowing Capacity Market Sellers to reflect their cost of risk associated with capacity performance in their capacity market offers; 3) allowing segmented unit-specific offer caps; 4) aligning the MSOC rules that may be applied to Planned Generation Capacity Resources with the costs that may be incurred; and 5) providing more flexibility for PJM in approving a unit-specific MSOC. PJM also proposed to align the eligibility of Performance Payments during Performance Assessment Intervals (PAI) to only committed Capacity Resources as well as clarify and revise certain other conditions of PAI obligations. PJM requested that the Commission approve the proposed OATT revisions such that implementation could go into effect by the 2025/2026 Base Residual Auction. A number of stakeholders filed motions to intervene, substantive comments, and protests. Generally, the protests alleged that PJM did not demonstrate that precluding demand response resources from being eligible for Performance Payments is just and reasonable, that PJM should adopt a more incremental approach with stakeholders to address immediate reliability concerns rather than the proposed OATT revisions, and the potential impacts of changes to the parameters by which locational deliverability areas are set. On February 6, 2024, the Commission issued an order, with guidance, rejecting the proposed revisions to the PJM OATT. A number of parties filed respective requests for rehearing of the February 6 order. Agenda item E-8 may be an order on the rehearing requests.
E-9 – ISO New England Inc., Central Maine Power Company, The Connecticut Light and Power Company, Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company, Green Mountain Power Corporation, New England Power Company, New Hampshire Transmission, LLC, NSTAR Electric Company, Public Service Company of New Hampshire, The United Illuminating Company, Unitil Energy Systems, Inc., Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc., Vermont Transco LLC and Versant Power (Docket No. ER20-2054-000). On June 15, 2020, the above-captioned New England Transmission Owners (NETOs), joined by ISO New England (ISO-NE), filed a joint offer of settlement and request for ruling. The settlement between the NETOs and ISO-NE purported to resolve all issues in Docket No. EL16-19, an FPA section 206 proceeding relating to the formula rates for transmission service in the ISO-NE Open Access Transmission Tariff (ISO-NE OATT). Namely, the FPA section 206 proceeding addressed the transparency and challenge procedures for formula rates in ISO-NE; the level of detail utilized in deriving certain costs in the transmission formula rate, including cost recovery mechanisms; and the timing and synchronization between Regional Network Service and Local Network Service formula rates. On August 18, 2020, the Commission issued a certification of uncontested settlement. On December 28, 2020, the Commission issued a letter order approving the joint offer of settlement between the parties. On January 27, 2021 and July 29, 2022, respectively, the NETOs submitted Informational Filings in compliance with the approval order. On January 31, 2023, RENEW Northeast, Inc. (RENEW NE) submitted a formal challenge to the Annual Informational Filing submitted by the NETOs on July 29, 2022. Namely, RENEW NE asserted that the NETOs failed to provide adequate rate input information in the Annual Informational Filings and, accordingly, certain Network Upgrade costs were unjustly assigned to interconnection customers. RENEW NE also contended that the NETOs may be over-collecting operations and maintenance costs in their respective transmission rates. On March 24, 2025, the Commission issued an order dismissing the formal challenge. On July 31, 2025, the NETOs submitted the latest Annual Informational Filing. Agenda item E-9 may be an order related to the Annual Informational Filing.
E-10 – Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, Duke Energy Progress, LLC and Duke Energy Indiana, LLC (Docket No. EL25-89-000). On May 30, 2025, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, Duke Energy Progress, LLC and Duke Energy Indiana, LLC (collectively, Duke Energy) filed a petition for declaratory order, blanket authorizations, and waivers. Duke Energy requested that the Commission make certain findings to permit the operation of each new wholly-owned procurement company as a direct subsidiary of its parent public utility. Duke Energy stated that the Commission granted the same manner of relief to Duke Energy Florida, LLC in 2022. Agenda item E-10 may be an order on the petition.
Hydro
H-1 – Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor and Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Docket No. P-13272-008). On April 21, 2025, Alutiiq Tribe of Old Harbor (Alutiiq Tribe) filed a request for a stay of Article 301 of the license for the Old Harbor Hydroelectric Project. On April 29, 2016, Alaska Village Electric Cooperative, Inc. (AVEC) received the initial Operating License from the Commission. In the fall of 2023, AVEC filed an agreement to transfer the project license to the Alutiiq Tribe. On July 24, 2024, the Commission issued an order approving the license transfer. In the request for stay, Alutiiq Tribe provided several examples of progress, including securing design and construction funding as well as retaining a design, build, and permitting contractor. The stay request is necessary due to a pending Right of Way agreement with the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Agenda item H-1 may be an order on the request for stay by the Alutiiq Tribe.
H-2 – Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation (Docket No. P-14890-006). On December 23, 2024, Southeast Oklahoma Power Corporation (SEOPC) filed a notice to submit a license application and a pre-application document for the proposed Pushmataha County Pumped Storage Project. SEOPC also filed the initial Proposed Study Plan concurrently with the pre-application. On January 8, 2025, the Commission issued a letter finding the initial pre-application to be insufficient and directing SEOPC to explain why certain studies, requested by participating agencies and stakeholders, were not conducted. SEOPC submitted an updated pre-application on February 6, 2025. On April 14, 2025, the Commission issued a letter order terminating the pre-application proceeding, concluding that SEOPC failed to comply with the study requirements. On May 13, 2025, SEOPC filed a request for rehearing of the April 14 termination letter order. Agenda item H-2 may be an order on the rehearing request by SEOPC.
H-3 – Alabama Power Company (Docket No. P-349-250). On December 21, 2023, Alabama Power Company (APC) submitted a proposed update of the Shoreline Management Plan in association with the Martin Dam Hydroelectric Project, of which APC is the license holder. On April 9, 2025, the Commission issued an order approving, in part, the Shoreline Management Plan for the Project. On May 5, 2025, William M. Campbell, III submitted a request for rehearing of the April 9 order. Agenda item H-3 may be an order on the rehearing request.
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