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AEE files appeal on proposed Southeast Energy Exchange Market at U.S. Court of Appeals

Posted by Cayli Baker on Feb 8, 2022

AEE joins other clean energy groups in appealing the FERC decision to reject a rehearing of its approval of the Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM) proposal

WASHINGTON, D.C., February 8, 2022 — Today, Advanced Energy Economy (AEE) joined a coalition of clean energy, environmental, and community groups from across the Southeast in filing a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seeking review of the approval of the Southeast Energy Exchange Market (SEEM) proposal before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

The SEEM is a newly proposed wholesale energy trading platform put forward by several utilities in the Southeastern U.S. The proposal was approved through a combination of FERC’s failure to act on portions of the proposals due to a 2-2 tie vote among the Commissioners and a subsequent series of FERC orders that approved other portions of the proposal and rejected requests for rehearing filed by AEE and other aligned parties without considering their merits.

Jeff Dennis, Managing Director and General Counsel at AEE released the following statement about the court petition: 

“The SEEM proposal will affect electricity costs for nearly 5 million households across the Southeast and deserves careful scrutiny to ensure that it will provide real benefits to customers, both large and small, and will not block access to transmission by competitors or leave customers exposed to higher charges or exercises of monopoly power. We’re taking this action today out of concern that the approval of the SEEM proposal threatens to erode foundational principles of open access to the transmission system that have been in place for decades, and to cement monopoly control of generation markets in the region, all of which would threaten increased costs to customers and slow the achievement of the clean energy goals of states, local communities, and customers. 

“AEE welcomes efforts to increase coordination and competition in the Southeast’s wholesale electricity markets, which would lower costs, enhance grid reliability and resilience, and provide customers with more access to renewable and advanced energy technologies. Unfortunately, SEEM has not been shown to provide these benefits, and includes provisions that would give its monopoly utility members access to preferential transmission services that are not available to non-utility power generators and other users of the grid. The contracts among the utilities forming SEEM also include terms that shield their arrangements from further regulatory scrutiny in the event that customer benefits do not materialize or competitors are unfairly frozen out of the market. To deliver on its promise to reduce emissions and costs for households, SEEM must be improved to ensure fair competition among generating resources and open access to the transmission system in the region.”

Background Materials 

Topics: Federal Policy, Wholesale Markets, Press Releases, Jeff Dennis