146 FERC ¶ 61,114

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION

Before Commissioners: Cheryl A. LaFleur, Acting Chairman;

 Philip D. Moeller, John R. Norris,

and Tony Clark.

Third-Party Provision of Ancillary Services; 

Accounting and Financial Reporting 

for Electric Storage Technologies

Docket Nos. RM11-24-001

AD10-13-001

ORDER NO. 784-A

ORDER GRANTING CLARIFICATION IN PART 

AND DENYING CLARIFICATION IN PART

(Issued February 20, 2014)

1. On July 18, 2013, the Commission issued a Final Rule (Final Rule or Order 

No. 784)1 in this proceeding that revised certain aspects of the Commission’s marketbased rate regulations, ancillary services requirements under the pro forma open-access 

transmission tariff (OATT), and accounting and reporting requirements. Several parties 

have requested clarification of the Final Rule. As discussed below, the requests for 

clarification are granted in part and denied in part. 

I. Background

2. In the Final Rule, the Commission revised its regulations in three specific areas. 

First, the Commission revised Part 35 of its regulations to reflect reforms to its 

Avista Corp.2 policy governing the sale of ancillary services at market-based rates to 

public utility transmission providers. Second, the Commission required each public 

utility transmission provider to add to its OATT Schedule 3 a statement that it will take 

into account the speed and accuracy of regulation resources in its determination of 

reserve requirements for Regulation and Frequency Response service. Related to that 

requirement, the Final Rule also requires each public utility transmission provider to post 

 1 Third-Party Provision of Ancillary Services; Accounting and Financial 

Reporting for New Electric Storage Technologies, Order No. 784, 78 Fed. Reg. 46,178 

(July 30, 2013), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,349 (2013).

2 See Avista Corp., 87 FERC ¶ 61,223 (Avista), order on reh’g, 89 FERC ¶ 61,136 

(1999).
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 2 -

certain Area Control Error (ACE) data on its open access same-time information system 

(OASIS) as described in the Final Rule. Third, the Commission revised the accounting 

and reporting requirements under its Uniform System of Accounts for public utilities and

licensees and its forms, statements, and reports contained in FERC Form No. 1, Annual 

Report of Major Electric Utilities, Licensees and Others, FERC Form No. 1-F, Annual 

Report for Nonmajor Public Utilities and Licensees, and FERC Form No. 3-Q, Quarterly 

Financial Report of Electric Utilities, Licensees, and Natural Gas Companies, to better 

account for and report transactions associated with the use of energy storage devices in 

public utility operations. 

3. Edison Electric Institute (EEI), Powerex Corporation (Powerex), WSPP Inc. 

(WSPP), and Southern California Edison Company (SCE) submitted requests for 

clarification. The Commission grants the clarification in part and denies clarification in 

part as discussed below.

II. Discussion

A. Ancillary Service Market-Based Rate Issues

1. Final Rule

4. In Order No. 784, the Commission established that sellers found to lack market 

power in a geographic market, and which are granted market-based rate authority to make 

sales of energy and capacity, will also be granted market-based rate authority for sales of 

Energy Imbalance and Generator Imbalance services to public utility transmission 

providers within the same balancing authority area, or to public utility transmission 

providers in different balancing authority areas, if those areas allow transmission 

customers to modify or create transmission schedules within the hour.

3

 

5. In addition, the Commission determined that it will allow third-party sellers 

passing existing market power screens for energy and capacity to sell Operating ReserveSpinning and Operating Reserve-Supplemental services at market-based rates to a public 

utility transmission provider within the same balancing authority area, or to a public 

utility transmission provider in a different balancing authority area, if within-hour 

transmission scheduling practices in those areas support the delivery of operating reserve 

resources from one balancing authority area to another.4 The Commission stated that its 

approach for market-based rate sales of operating reserves differs slightly from the 

reforms adopted for sales of imbalance services and implemented a requirement for 

potential sellers of operating reserves to explain in their market-based rate applications 

 3 Order No. 784, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,349 at P 41.

4 Id. PP 54, 57.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 3 -

for such authority how the scheduling practices in their region support the use of 

operating reserves.

5

6. In Order No. 784, the Commission also determined that it will allow applicants to 

engage in market-based rate sales of ancillary services to a public utility that is 

purchasing ancillary services to satisfy its own OATT requirements where the sale is 

made pursuant to a competitive solicitation meeting certain requirements.6

 The 

Commission stated that there may be multiple methods of demonstrating adequate 

competitiveness and the Commission will review such proposals on a case-by-case basis. 

The Commission explained that this demonstration must be made through a filing under

section 205 of the Federal Power Act,

7 submitted by the seller to the Commission prior to 

commencement of service under the third-party ancillary service sales agreement that 

results from the competitive solicitation and the third-party seller will need to submit 

both the actual sales agreement and a narrative description of how the buyer’s 

competitive solicitation meets the requirements of the Final Rule.

8

2. Requests for Clarification

7. WSPP seeks clarification as to whether the intra-hour transmission scheduling 

required to permit sales of imbalance services and operating reserve services under 

existing market-based rate authority must be the 15-minute scheduling required by Order 

No. 764,9 or whether less frequent scheduling changes (e.g., every 30 minutes) would 

suffice.10 Similarly, Powerex seeks clarification that market-based rate sales of Energy 

Imbalance and Generator Imbalance services may be made in any balancing authority 

area that permits intra-hour schedule changes and is willing to take dispatch of energy 

intra-hour for ancillary services, even if the relevant balancing authority has not yet 

formally implemented the specific form of intra-hour scheduling required in Order 

No. 764.11

 5 Id. P 58.

6 Id. PP 99-101.

7 16 U.S.C. § 824d (2012).

8 Order No. 784, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,349 at P 101.

9 Integration of Variable Energy Resources, Order No. 764, FERC Stats. & Regs.

¶ 32,331 at P 91, order on reh’g, Order No. 764-A, 141 FERC ¶ 61,232 (2012).

10 WSPP Request for Clarification at 4-5.

11 Powerex Request for Clarification at 5.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 4 -

8. Powerex seeks clarification as to whether the section 205 filing requirement to 

demonstrate adequate competitiveness would apply only to sales of ancillary services that 

the Commission did not otherwise authorize in Order No. 784 or to sales of all ancillary 

services that a public utility transmission provider seeks to procure through a competitive 

solicitation. Powerex contends that additional clarification is needed on this point to 

ensure that potential third-party suppliers of ancillary services are fully aware of their 

section 205 filing obligations. 

9. Powerex argues that the section 205 filing requirement should be limited to sales 

of those ancillary services not otherwise authorized in Order No. 784 and therefore would 

not apply to market-based rate sales of Energy Imbalance, Generator Imbalance, or 

operating reserves where transmission providers have adopted adequate scheduling 

practices, or to sales of Regulation and Frequency Response at prices below the 

transmission provider’s OATT rate for such services. Powerex argues that, otherwise,

the Commission may unnecessarily burden third-party sales of these services and deter 

the development of competitive ancillary services markets.

10. Powerex also notes that in the Final Rule, the Commission stated that “sales of 

Energy Imbalance and Generator Imbalance services to entities other than a public utility 

transmission provider remain authorized under Avista.”12 Powerex requests that the 

Commission clarify this statement. In particular, Powerex states that its understanding of 

the Commission’s Avista restrictions on market-based rate sellers’ authorizations to make 

third-party ancillary services sales is that those restrictions do not apply to “non-public 

utility” transmission providers, such as U.S. government-owned entities that are 

exempted from the definition of “public utility” under section 201(f) of the Federal 

Power Act.13 Rather, Powerex submits, the restrictions set forth in Avista apply only to 

“public utility” transmission providers, and thus any ancillary services sales to non-public 

utilities do not require separate authorization from the Commission. 

11. Powerex states that to eliminate uncertainty, if any, particularly in view of the 

large number of non-public utility transmission providers in the West, Powerex requests 

that the Commission confirm that the restrictions do not apply to third-party ancillary 

services sales to non-public utility transmission providers.14 

3. Commission Determination

12. With respect to sales of Energy Imbalance and Generator Imbalance services, we 

clarify that any intra-hour transmission scheduling practice would be sufficient to meet 

 12 Id. at 11 (citing Order No. 784, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,349 at n.48).

13 16 U.S.C. § 824(f). 

14 Powerex Request for Clarification at 11.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 5 -

Order No. 784’s new requirements. As discussed in Order No. 784, under the pro forma

OATT, imbalances are calculated on an hourly basis, which means that any resources 

capable of delivery within the hour can compete to provide these services.15 

Accordingly, all resources within a relevant geographic market that permits intra-hour 

transmission scheduling can compete to provide Energy Imbalance and Generator 

Imbalance services. This would hold true both for the 15-minute transmission scheduling 

required by Order No. 764, and for other intra-hour transmission scheduling intervals 

such as 30-minute scheduling.

13. We note that, while Powerex requested this clarification only with respect to 

Energy Imbalance and Generator Imbalance services, WSPP also requested this 

clarification with respect to operating reserve services.16 This clarification does not apply 

to operating reserve services. As discussed in Order No. 784,17 Operating ReserveSpinning service is defined in the pro forma OATT as being provided by resources that 

are available immediately and Operating Reserve-Supplemental service is defined in the 

pro forma OATT as being provided by resources that are available within a short period 

of time. Both of these requirements may be more stringent than the intra-hour 

requirement associated with imbalance services. For this reason, Order No. 784 placed a 

burden on potential sellers of Operating Reserve-Spinning and Operating ReserveSupplemental services to satisfactorily explain in their market-based rate applications 

how the particular transmission scheduling practices in their regions support the use of 

operating reserves.18 Rather than attempt to prejudge what hypothetical transmission 

scheduling practices might support the use of operating reserves across multiple 

balancing authority areas, we believe it is more appropriate to leave that burden on 

potential sellers of operating reserve services at this time. However to aid the industry, 

we will provide additional discussion of our concerns in this regard.

14. The Commission’s intent is to allow potential sellers to use the existing market 

power screens applicable to sales of energy and capacity to also demonstrate lack of 

market power for sales of operating reserves, preferably without significant modification 

to those screens. Those screens incorporate a default geographic market that reflects 

imports from first-tier balancing authority areas up to the study area’s simultaneous 

transmission import limit under an assumption that first-tier resources face no significant 

barriers to competing with resources in the home balancing authority area. For this to be 

true with respect to operating reserves, transmission scheduling practices must support 

 15 Id. P 36.

16 WSPP Request for Clarification at 5.

17 Order No. 784, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,331 at P 58.

18 Id.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 6 -

the ability of a first-tier resource to respond to dispatch needs in a neighboring balancing 

authority area in the time frame required by the operating reserve service at issue. 

15. Unlike energy, capacity, or imbalance services, Operating Reserve-Spinning is 

defined in the OATT as available to serve load “immediately” in the event of a 

contingency. Accordingly, for a seller to be able to rely on the existing market power 

screens without modification to demonstrate lack of market power for sales of Operating 

Reserve-Spinning, the applicant would need to show among other things that resources in 

first-tier balancing authority areas can change their output “immediately” in response to a 

contingency in the home balancing area. A sufficient showing on this issue should 

include a detailed discussion of how the transmission scheduling practices or other 

protocols in the region permit that level of response. Similarly, for sales of Operating 

Reserve-Supplemental, a seller should show how the transmission scheduling practices or 

other protocols in its region permit a unit in one balancing authority area to respond 

within a “short period of time” to contingencies in the home balancing authority area.

16. The Commission also grants the clarification requested by Powerex regarding 

filing requirements. The section 205 filing requirement for sales of ancillary services 

made pursuant to a competitive solicitation applies only to sales not otherwise authorized 

in Order No. 784. We agree that it would be somewhat redundant to require sellers to 

make the section 205 filing for ancillary service sales that already are authorized under 

their market-based rate tariff. 

17. We further grant Powerex’s request for clarification that the Avista restrictions do 

not apply to non-public utilities. In Avista, the Commission concluded that third party 

ancillary service sellers that cannot perform a market power study should be allowed to 

sell ancillary services at flexible rates except in certain specified circumstances.

19 The 

Commission stated that it would not apply this approach to sales of ancillary services by 

a third-party supplier in the following situations: (1) sales to an RTO or an ISO, which 

has no ability to self-supply ancillary services but instead depends on third parties;20 

(2) sales to a traditional franchised public utility affiliated with the third-party supplier, or 

sales where the underlying transmission service is on the system of the public utility 

affiliated with the third-party supplier; and (3) sales to a public utility who is purchasing 

ancillary services to satisfy its own OATT requirements to offer ancillary services to its 

own customers.21 Thus, sales to non-public utility transmission providers were not 

 19 Avista, 87 FERC ¶ 61,223 at 61,883.

20 Subsequently, as the Commission recognized in Order No. 697, most RTOs and 

ISOs developed formal ancillary service markets, thus rendering this component of the 

Avista policy largely superfluous. See Order No. 697, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,252 at 

n.1194 and P 1069.

21 Id. at n.12.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 7 -

subject to the preceding Avista restrictions. By noting in the Final Rule that “sales of 

Energy Imbalance and Generator Imbalance services to entities other than a public utility 

transmission provider remain authorized under Avista,” the Commission did not intend to 

alter the Avista policy as it relates to sales to “non-public utility” transmission providers. 

B. Regulation Reserve Transparency and Self-Supply Issues

1. Final Rule

18. In Order No. 784, the Commission concluded that reforms were necessary to 

address the potential for undue discrimination against transmission customers choosing to 

self-supply Regulation and Frequency Response, including through purchases from thirdparties. The Commission instituted a requirement that each public utility transmission 

provider add to its OATT Schedule 3 a statement that it will take into account the speed 

and accuracy of regulation resources in its determination of reserve requirements for 

Regulation and Frequency Response service, including as it reviews whether a selfsupplying customer has made “alternative comparable arrangements” as required by the 

Schedule. This statement will also acknowledge that, upon request by the self-supplying 

customer, the public utility transmission provider will share with the customer its 

reasoning and any related data used to make the determination of whether the customer 

has made “alternative comparable arrangements.” To aid the transmission customer’s 

ability to make an “apples-to-apples” comparison of regulation resources, Order No. 784

also requires each public utility transmission provider to post on OASIS historical oneminute and 10-minute ACE data as described in the Final Rule for the most recent 

calendar year, and update this posting once per year.22

19. The Commission concluded that with this information, a transmission customer 

will be in a position to demonstrate to the public utility transmission provider that the 

resource(s) it selects for self-supply are comparable to those of the public utility 

transmission provider. The Commission stated that acknowledging the speed and 

accuracy of the resources used to provide this service will help to ensure that self-supply 

requirements of the public utility transmission provider do not unduly discriminate by 

requiring customers to procure a different amount of regulation reserves than the 

particular speed and accuracy characteristics of the resources in question justify (i.e., to 

be comparable, a customer self-supply arrangement that relies on slower, less accurate 

resources than those of the public utility transmission provider might require a larger 

reserve requirement than would a purchase from the transmission provider and a 

customer's self-supply arrangement that relies on faster, more accurate resources than 

 22 Order No. 784, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,331 at PP 3-4.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 8 -

those of the public utility transmission provider should entail a smaller reserve 

requirement than would a purchase from the transmission provider).

23

2. Requests for Clarification

20. Powerex states that it strongly supports the Commission’s efforts to encourage 

self-supply arrangements. However, Powerex states that it is aware of certain situations 

in which transmission providers have attempted to limit customers’ abilities to selfsupply through imposing charges on customers who seek to do so, proposing an all-ornothing approach to self-supply that requires self-supplying customers to supply 

100 percent of their reserve obligations or to procure all reserves from the transmission 

provider, and in one circumstance, establishing an outright cap on the amount of reserves 

a customer may self-supply. Powerex states that it understands and supports transmission 

providers’ need to require customers to elect to self-supply for a specified term (e.g., one 

year) to ensure that customers do not attempt to “cherry-pick” and self-supply in hours or 

seasons when market prices are low, and switch back to taking service from the 

transmission provider when market prices are higher. However, Powerex requests the 

Commission to clarify that transmission providers may not limit the quantity a customer 

may self-supply, absent verifiable operational reasons for doing so. Powerex also 

requests the Commission to clarify that transmission providers may not require selfsupplying customers to supply a greater quantity of reserves than what is required if the 

reserves are procured from the transmission provider under its OATT.

21. Powerex argues that absent these clarifications to customers’ rights to self-supply, 

transmission providers may seek to limit self-supply options in the interest of maintaining 

their own ancillary services sales. Powerex argues that any such limits, without 

justifiable operational reasons, will undercut the reforms the Commission is attempting to 

accomplish in Order No. 784, act as a barrier to the development of fully competitive 

ancillary services markets, and may result in unjust and unreasonable ancillary services 

rates. EEI requests that the Commission clarify that the deadline for the requirement to 

post historical ACE data on the OASIS comports with the effective date for each 

transmission provider’s revised OATT Schedule 3, that is, by February 25, 2014. EEI 

submits that this deadline would provide an initial 30 days from the effective date of 

Order No. 784 for tariff holders to file revised Schedule 3, and allow for a 60-day prior 

notice period (such that public utility transmission providers would be required to post 

their ACE data by February 25, 2014).24

 23 Id.

24 EEI Request for Clarification at 2.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 9 -

22. EEI states that while there are several effective dates and deadlines indicated in 

the Final Rule, there is no date listed for the implementation of the ACE data posting. 

EEI argues that its members will be able to compile and post the required ACE data 

described in the Final Rule if the implementation date is the same as the effective date of 

the OATT Schedule 3 revisions. EEI submits that given that the ACE data posting 

requirement is provided hand in hand with the OATT Schedule 3 requirements, EEI 

believes that the Commission intended for these two new requirements to be 

implemented together, within the same timeframe. EEI therefore requests that the 

Commission clarify that, under the Final Rule, public utility transmission providers must 

make the required revision to OATT Schedule 3 and post historical one-minute and tenminute ACE data to OASIS within 90 days of the effective date of the Final Rule 

(i.e., allowing for the lapse of 30 days for tariff revisions to be filed, plus the required 

60-day notice period for a tariff change to become effective.)25

3. Commission Determination

23. We grant Powerex’s request in part and deny it in part. Nothing in Order No. 784 

is intended to permit transmission providers to limit the quantity or percentage of total 

reserve obligations that a customer may self-supply, absent verifiable operational reasons 

for doing so, and we grant Powerex’s requested clarification to that extent. Further, we 

note that there is nothing in the OATT limiting the quantity or percentage of total reserve 

obligation that a transmission customer may self-supply. However, we deny Powerex’s 

request that the Commission clarify that transmission providers may not require selfsupplying customers to supply a greater quantity of reserves than what is required if the 

reserves are procured from the transmission provider under its OATT. Although the 

reforms adopted in Order No. 784 were necessary to address the potential for undue 

discrimination against transmission customers choosing to self-supply Regulation and 

Frequency Response, including through purchases from third-parties, as noted in the 

Final Rule and above, to be comparable, a customer self-supply arrangement that relies 

on slower, less accurate resources than those of the public utility transmission provider 

might require a larger reserve requirement than a purchase from the transmission 

provider, and vice versa. 

24. With respect to ACE data posting, we clarify that public utility transmission 

providers must post historical one-minute and ten-minute ACE data to OASIS within 

30 days after the issuance of this order. In the Final Rule, the Commission stated that 

transmission customers considering whether or not there would be any economic 

advantage to self-supply of Regulation and Frequency Response service requirements 

would need to be able to make an “applies-to-apples” comparison of their resources to 

those of their public utility transmission provider.26 Doing so would require the 

 25 Id. at 4.

26 Order No. 784, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,331 at P 115.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 10 -

transmission customer to know both the potential avoided cost of purchasing from its 

public utility transmission provider and some measure of the speed and accuracy of the 

public utility transmission provider’s Regulation resources. The Commission stated that 

the first requirement is met through the rate filed in the public utility transmission 

provider’s OATT Schedule 3 and the second requirement can only be met through a new 

OASIS posting requirement.27 Although we agree that the ACE data posting requirement 

should be provided hand in hand with the OATT Schedule 3 requirements, because the 

Commission did not specify an effective date in the Final Rule, we clarify that the 

deadline for the requirement to post the ACE data on OASIS is 30 days after issuance of 

this order to ensure that public utility transmission providers have adequate time to 

implement the Final Rule’s requirements. 

C. Accounting and Reporting Issues

1. Account 555.1

a. Final Rule

25. In Order No. 784, the Commission adopted Account 555.1, Power Purchased for 

Storage Operations, to report the cost of power purchased for energy storage operations. 

This new account requires the reporting of: (1) power purchased and stored for resale; 

(2) power purchased that will not be resold but instead consumed in operations during the 

provisioning of services; (3) power purchased to sustain a state of charge; and (4) power 

purchased to initially attain a state of charge, with item 4 being capitalized as a 

component cost of initially constructing the asset.28

b. Request for Clarification

26. SCE states that it interprets the description and definition of Account 555.1 to be a 

“catch all” account within the power production classification that includes all costs of 

power purchased for energy storage operations regardless of whether the associated 

energy storage device is a power production, transmission, or distribution device. SCE 

asserts that for ratemaking purposes it is important for all costs related to transmission 

and distribution, including any associated power purchased cost, to be included in the 

correct rates. Accordingly, SCE seeks clarification that all costs of power purchased for 

energy storage operations do not have to be recorded to Account 555.1 and that power 

purchased costs for energy storage devices classified as transmission or distribution are

recorded in the appropriate transmission and distribution operation expense accounts.29

 27 Id.

28 Id. PP 142 and 145.

29 SCE Request for Clarification at 2.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 11 -

Alternatively, SCE requests clarification that power purchased costs recorded in 

Account 555.1 associated with operation of transmission or distribution devices be

assigned to the appropriate transmission or distribution function for ratemaking 

purposes.

30

c. Commission Determination

27. We deny SCE’s requested clarification that power purchased costs for energy 

storage devices classified as transmission or distribution may be recorded in transmission 

and distribution operation expense accounts. Account 555.1 is intended to include all 

costs of power purchased for energy storage operations without regard to the 

classification of the associated energy storage device used in operations. In Order 

No. 784, the Commission determined that transparency of costs associated with energy 

storage operations is required. However, SCE’s requested clarification would reduce the 

transparency of power purchased costs for energy storage devices. 

28. Regarding SCE’s alternative request, we clarify that the accounting requirements 

of Account 555.1 are without prejudice to the ratemaking practice or treatment that may 

be afforded costs recorded in the account. Recovery of costs associated with energy 

storage operations must be consistent with the provisions of a utility’s approved rate 

recovery method or mechanism. 

29. We additionally note that in Order No. 784, the Commission stated that utilities 

transferring energy storage plant costs from an existing plant account under a particular 

functional classification to an adopted energy storage plant account under the same 

functional classification may submit a compliance filing to incorporate the energy storage 

plant account into existing formula rate cost recovery mechanisms.31 We further clarify 

that the energy storage operation and maintenance expense accounts, including Account 

555.1, may be incorporated into existing formula rates pursuant to a compliance filing. 

Each utility must make its compliance filing as an eTariff filing, and the Commission will 

assign each utility’s compliance filing a separate docket and provide interested parties an 

opportunity to intervene in those dockets. 

2. Implementation Date

a. Final Rule

30. In Order No. 784, the Commission required utilities subject to the Commission’s 

accounting and reporting requirements to implement the new requirements as of 

 30 Id. at 2-3.

31 Order No. 784, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,331 at PP 173-175. 
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 12 -

January 1, 2013.32 The Commission also addressed EEI’s comment that it would not be 

beneficial or cost effective to require utilities to retroactively amend prior year reports, 

and that the accounting and reporting requirements be effective prospectively only. The 

Commission acknowledged that there may be benefits to requiring utilities with energy 

storage assets to retroactively implement the requirements to provide a transparent 

historical record of these utilities’ energy storage operations. However, the Commission 

determined that such historical information would not be necessary to provide oversight 

of these utilities' energy storage operations going forward.33 Consequently, rather than 

require utilities with energy storage assets and operations to retroactively amend and 

resubmit previously filed reports (i.e., FERC Form Nos. 1, 1-F, and 3-Q, Annual and 

Quarterly Reports), the Commission established January 1, 2013 as the implementation 

date.

b. Request for Clarification 

31. EEI seeks further clarification of the implementation date. EEI asserts that 

although the Commission indicated that utilities are not required to retroactively 

implement the accounting and reporting requirements, the Commission nonetheless 

directed utilities to implement the requirements as of January 1, 2013. Further, EEI 

maintains that Order No. 784 repeats this requirement, along with the January 1, 2013 

date, in the “Summary of Compliance and Implementation” section.34 EEI asks whether 

the Commission intended to require the accounting and reporting requirements be 

implemented in filings made after January 1, 2014. EEI states that the January 1, 2014 

date is consistent with the Commission’s statement that it would not make the reporting 

and accounting requirements retroactive. Therefore, EEI requests that the Commission 

clarify that the accounting and reporting requirements be implemented in filings made 

after January 1, 2014.35

c. Commission Determination

32. We deny EEI’s request for clarification. Order No. 784 directs utilities with 

energy storage assets and operations to implement the accounting and reporting 

requirements as of January 1, 2013, i.e., in the 2013 FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1-F that 

must be filed with the Commission by April 18, 2014. In its consideration of the 

implementation date of the requirements, including whether retroactive accounting would 

be required, the Commission weighed the perceived costs of implementation against the 

 32 2013 Form Nos. 1 and 1-F must be filed by April 18, 2014.

33 Order No. 784, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 32,331 at P 182.

34 EEI Motion for Clarification at 4.

35 Id. at 5.
Docket Nos. RM11-24-001 and AD10-13-001 - 13 -

expected benefits. The Commission determined that information on energy storage 

operations going forward would be sufficient. Thus, utilities are not required to 

retroactively amend and resubmit previously filed reports nor are the utilities required to 

adjust prior year, comparative information included in 2013 reports for periods prior to 

January 1, 2013. 

33. By directing a January 1, 2013 implementation date, data reported in the 2013 

FERC Form Nos. 1 and 1-F, which are required to be filed by April 18, 2014, will be 

included in utilities’ future formula rates that are established based on historical data 

reported in the 2013 FERC Form Nos.1 and 1-F.36 Thus, the January 1, 2013, 

implementation date provides the improved transparency and oversight of utilities’ 

energy storage operations on a going forward basis as contemplated by Order No. 784. 

EEI has not provided information that supports a later implementation date. We 

therefore deny clarification and reaffirm that utilities are required to implement the 

accounting and reporting requirements as of January 1, 2013.

The Commission orders:

The requests for clarification are granted in part and denied in part as discussed in 

the body of this order.

By the Commission.

( S E A L )

Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,

Deputy Secretary.

 36 This implementation date does not require utilities to resubmit 2013 quarterly 

reports filed in the FERC Form No. 3-Q.