NRG Energy, Inc. Receives a Penalty of $70,000 Due to the Violations of Section 6.6 of the PJM Tariff and 18 C.F.R. § 35.41(a) (2022)

PJM determined the minimum unit notification time for combustion turbine units to be 0.1 hours. FERC Enforcement determined that NRG did not comply with the 0.1-hour notification time set forth by PJM during the Delivery Years. Although NRG sought modifications to the notification time for the delivery year beginning June 2016, that request was denied by PJM. Notwithstanding NRG’s use of Real Time Values to communicate the notification time of the Fisk Units, Enforcement determined that NRG violated Attachment K-Appendix, Sections 6.6 (a) and (b) of the PJM Tariff by operating on a three-hour notification time (instead of a 0.1-hour notification time) throughout the Delivery Years except when PJM declared a Hot Weather or Cold Weather Alert. FERC Enforcement also found that NRG’s adopted three-hour notification time was not due to any operating constraints per Attachment K-Appendix, Section 6.6 (c) of the PJM Tariff. It was instead the result of an NRG business decision not to staff the Fisk Units 24/7/365 or to install remote start capability. Such an economic decision thus does not excuse NRG’s failure to meet the PLS notification time requirements under Attachment K-Appendix, Sections 6.6 (a) and (b).

FERC Enforcement also concluded that NRG violated 18 C.F.R. § 35.41(a) (2022) because it did not comply with the PLS requirements of Attachment K-Appendix, Section 6.6 of the PJM Tariff during times when the units were unmanned. Section 35.41(a) requires that “where a Seller participates in a Commission-approved organized market, Seller must operate and schedule generating facilities, undertake maintenance, declare outages, and commit or otherwise bid supply in a manner that complies with the Commission-approved rules and regulations of the applicable market.”