Utility Dive covered FERC Chair Neil Chatterjee thoughts on how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted power generation sources and its impact moving forward, quoting AEE's Jeff Dennis. Read excerpts below and the entire UD piece here. 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chair Neil Chatterjee is focused on how the current pandemic might impact current generation sources, and how the power sector will emerge from this crisis, he told Atlantic Council's Energy Advisory Group Chair David Goldwyn during a Zoom-based interview on Tuesday. A top concern is whether reliability will be threatened if some facilities close and can't reopen after the current crisis subsides and power demand rises.

But Chatterjee rejected the notion that FERC's actions with [a pricing rule for] PJM are a threat to renewables and urged states to wait and see how the next couple of auctions go, before moving to exit the RTO's capacity market. Another key issue is determining the correct approach for the return on equity for projects in order "get the critical energy infrastructure we need in this country built," he said while defending FERC's actions on gas pipelines and other matters...

But Jeff Dennis, general counsel and managing director at Advanced Energy Economy, said he understands why states have to consider all their options in the face of MOPR.

"The problem for the states is that the MOPR decisions entrench in federal policy and FERC precedent the principle that state policies are something to be mitigated, rather than accommodated, in wholesale markets," he told Utility Dive via email. 

"With such a federal policy in place, the results of one or two capacity auctions won't change the reasonable desire of the states to explore their long-term options for continuing to pursue energy and environmental policy objectives within their authority," he continued...

Read the entire UD piece here.