Court rules FERC shouldn’t have refunded California customers during 2020 heat wave

By Catherine Morehouse | 07/10/2024 06:48 AM EDT

The D.C. Circuit vacated FERC’s orders, which had directed six power sellers to issue refunds for sales made above $1,000 megawatts per hour.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Tuesday ruled that FERC erred in issuing refunds to California customers for inflated power prices during the 2020 heatwave that led to forced blackouts across the state.

The court also rejected complaints from the California Public Utilities Commission and utility Southern California Edison that had argued FERC had miscalculated the refunds in a way that would lead to higher prices for customers in the future.

The D.C. Circuit vacated FERC’s orders — which had directed six power sellers to refund customers for sales made above $1,000 megawatts per hour — back to FERC and ordered the commission to reassess the rates.

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At issue was whether the sellers of power had adequately justified their energy transactions that exceeded FERC’s “soft” cap of $1,000 per megawatt-hour.

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