WHEREAS, PJM Interconnection (“PJM”) is the regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of wholesale electricity in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia; and
WHEREAS, PJM has identified the need for a new transmission line across the Delaware River connecting Artificial Island to Delaware with the goal of improving reliability throughout PJM’s region; and
WHEREAS, the Artificial Island project is being developed to address reliability and stability issues at the Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power facilities, not to address supply deficiencies within the Delmarva Peninsula; and
WHEREAS, the estimated total cost of the project is $280 million; and
WHEREAS, a recent ruling by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) requires Delaware, and other residential and commercial customers on the Delmarva Peninsula, to pay for the overwhelming majority of the costs of this project despite receiving only a small portion of the benefits it creates; and
WHEREAS, the majority of the load savings of this project are allocated regionally outside the Delmarva Zone; and
WHEREAS, Delaware’s Congressional delegation, the Delaware and Maryland Public Service Commissions, the Delaware Office of the Public Advocate, the Maryland Office of the People’s Counsel, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, LS Power, and other stakeholders have challenged the current cost allocation for the Artificial Island project in proceedings pending before the FERC in Docket No. EL15-95-000; and
WHEREAS, the FERC decided in an April 22, 2016 order not to modify the cost allocation formula for the project, despite evidence presented by the Delaware Public Service Commission (“PSC”) showing that the formula places an undue burden on Delaware consumers and businesses; and
WHEREAS, the Delaware and Maryland Public Service Commissions, the Delaware Office of the Public Advocate, the Maryland Office of the People’s Counsel, Old Dominion Electric Cooperative, LS Power, and other stakeholders have filed requests for rehearing, which FERC granted on June 21, 2016; and
WHEREAS, under this formula as it stands, the average residential customer in Delaware would be forced to pay an additional $2 to $4 on their monthly electric bills; and
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 149th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, with the approval of the Governor, that the State of Delaware opposes the cost allocation of the Artificial Island project as unfair and unduly burdensome to the residential and commercial end users of our State.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 149th General Assembly of the State of Delaware, with the approval of the Governor, that the State of Delaware urges PJM to join Delaware and other stakeholders in contesting the current cost allocation for the Artificial Island project in the proceedings already pending before FERC in Docket No. EL15-95-000.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that suitable copies of this resolution be sent to PSC, the Public Advocate, FERC, and PJM.
