7th Circ. Backs FERC in Wind Interconnection Fee Dispute
Washington partner Chris Jones was mentioned in an August 19 Law360 article about the Seventh Circuit backing a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decision that stated Pioneer Trial Wind Farm LLC and Settlers Trail Wind Farm LLC’s must pay $11.5 million in additional upgrades to Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc. electrical grid that it hadn’t originally included in the connection agreements for the projects. The Circuit found that FERC had acted reasonably under its authority to put those added costs on Pioneer Trial and Settlers Trail’s 150-MW projects regardless of whether the mistake in estimating connection costs was on the grid operator.
The original dispute, per the article, stemmed from two interconnection agreements in 2010 that were based on studies carried out by MISO and Ameren Illinois Company, which estimated that the wind companies would have to shoulder $6 million in costs for bringing the plants online and upgrading the grid.
Chris represented Ameren in the legal proceedings, which had intervened on behalf of FERC. Washington of counsel Kurt Jacobs handled the oral argument in the case, and Washington associate Daniel Archuleta assisted in the briefing.