ACORE Protests Anti-Renewable Proposal from ISO New England

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Thursday, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) submitted a protest to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on a recent proposal from ISO New England (ISO-NE).

On March 31, ISO-NE filed a proposal to delay the removal of the anti-renewable, anti-competitive Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) by another two years, until 2025. This action represents a reversal of the ISO’s pledge from last May to eliminate the MOPR by 2023. At a time when almost all the planned new generation in the region is comprised of wind, solar, and storage resources, impediments to the development of such resources will create additional costs to consumers and delay the achievement of state renewable and climate goals.

In the protest, ACORE argues that ISO-NE’s own proposal not only fails to justify a delay in the MOPR removal, but it also demonstrates that the MOPR is not just and reasonable.

“ACORE strongly supports the elimination of the anti-competitive Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR) and replacement with reforms to its buyer-side market power mitigation rules,” the protest reads, calling a removal “long overdue.”

“The ISO-NE’s filing fails to justify the retention of the MOPR for two more Forward Capacity Auctions and will therefore impose unjust costs on clean energy resources. ACORE urges the Commission to reject this proposal and require, under Section 206 of the FPA, that ISO-NE adopt and implement the elimination of the MOPR, as proposed in this filing prior to the next Forward Capacity Auction,” the protest concludes.

See ACORE’s November 2021 report on Ensuring Low-Cost Reliability for a discussion of the problems with a MOPR and other recommendations for resource adequacy in a clean energy grid.

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About ACORE:
For more than 20 years, the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has been the nation’s premier pan-renewable nonprofit organization. ACORE unites finance, policy and technology to accelerate the transition to a renewable energy economy. For more information, please visit www.acore.org.

Media Contacts:

Alex Hobson, Vice President of Communications, ACORE
hobson@acore.org | 202.777.7584 (o) | 202.594.0706 (c)

Blake McCarren, Communications Manager, ACORE
mccarren@acore.org | 301.661.7375 (c)