FERC Order 881: WIFM?

WIFM = What’s in it for me?

Many of you have been hearing about FERC Order 881: Ambiently Adjusted Ratings. The order is scheduled to become effective on 7/1/2025. The general purpose of this order was a reaction to the difficulty in building new transmission lines and FERC sees ambiently adjusted ratings as a way to maximize the existing transmission system to avoid additional costly expansion of the transmission system. So what is in it for me? Based on our current understanding, this is going to most likely require all TO’s to provide your line ratings to your RC/PC/TP/TOP (depending on your location and who the system operator is in your area) with hourly rating information for the next 24 hours, including a forecast of ratings for the next week. We are currently working on determining what the obligations of GO’s will be in the rollout of FERC Order 881 and whether or not GO’s will have to provide AAR’s as well. These ratings will be provided in a newly developed limited exchange portal and will need to be updated hourly for the next 24 hours based on a weather forecast (essentially an hourly update to a rolling 24-hour forecast).

USV has not been able to get into any of the rooms where these conversations are being had in terms of how/what/when/where. However, based on the information we have received, we are expecting that many of you are still seeking guidance on how and when this will be implemented. USV is currently reaching out to various contacts at different entities who will be managing these ratings and get further clarification. For those of you who have been clients for a long time will remember our “lunch with US” series where we would provide a presentation during the lunch hour to incite some discussion of current affairs. We will try to revive that series over the next few months to try and provide everyone with the latest and greatest information as we near the 7/1/2025 date. A few topics that we would like to discuss with you:

• USV has been looking into the possibility of building a tool that would – on an hourly basis – download updated hourly weather forecasts, calculate the resulting ratings, and automatically submit the updated ratings into your operator’s portal (in ISO-NE, this will be called “LEP” Limited Exchange Portal).
• USV is looking into the possibility of updating everyone’s FAC-008 methodology and building out the ratings sheet to go to the granularity of 5 degree rating increments. This would result in a completely revamped Methodology as well.
• USV is trying to understand how we can position ourselves to reduce the difficulties in transitioning to AAR for our clients since this is not necessarily a NERC obligation.
• With our extensive network of contacts within the various regions and system operators, we will work to provide guidance on your specific requirements to satisfy the FERC Order.