Letter order granting the SPP Joint Movants' abeyance motion for 95 days, to November 20, 2026

Document text

196 FERC ¶ 61,128
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20426

August 14, 2026


				In Reply Refer To:
Southwest Power Pool, Inc.
AEP Oklahoma Transmission Company, Inc.
AEP Southwestern Transmission Company, Inc.
Deseret Generation & Transmission Co-operative, Inc.
Empire District Electric Company
Evergy Kansas Central, Inc.
Evergy Kansas South, Inc.
Evergy Metro, Inc.
Evergy Missouri West, Inc.
GridLiance High Plains LLC
ITC Great Plains, LLC
Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative
NextEra Energy Transmission Southwest, LLC
NorthWestern Energy Public Service Corporation
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company
Prairie Wind Transmission, LLC
Public Service Company of Oklahoma
Southwestern Electric Power Company
Southwestern Public Service Company
Transource Missouri, LLC
Transource Oklahoma, LLC
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc.
Upper Missouri G. & T. Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Docket No. EL26-68-000
					

Southwest Power Pool, Inc.
201 Worthen Drive
Little Rock, AR  72223-4936
Attention:  Meredith Powell

Dear Ms. Powell:

On June 18, 2026, the Commission initiated a show cause proceeding under section 206 of the Federal Power Act (FPA)[fn:2] (Show Cause Order).[fn:3]  The Show Cause Order directed Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) and the Transmission Owners to explain why SPP’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff) remains just and reasonable and not unduly discriminatory or preferential without certain Tariff provisions addressing large loads and co-located loads, or propose Tariff revisions addressing the Commission’s concerns.  It also directed SPP and the Transmission Owners, within       60 days of the date of the order, to respond to the Show Cause Order and the briefing questions.  Responses to the Show Cause Order are due on August 17, 2026, with answers due 30 days after the responses are filed.[fn:4]  
On August 3, 2026, as amended on the same day, pursuant to Rule 212 of the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure,[fn:5] SPP, American Electric Power Service Corporation, Evergy, Inc., GridLiance High Plains LLC, ITC Great Plains, LLC, Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative, NextEra Energy Transmission Southwest, LLC, Northwestern Energy, Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association, Inc., Upper Missouri G. & T. Electric Cooperative, Inc., and Xcel Energy Services, Inc. (collectively, Joint Movants) filed a motion to hold the above-referenced show cause proceeding in abeyance, in full, for 95 days, up to and including November 20, 2026, pending completion of SPP’s stakeholder proceedings and submittal of an FPA section 205[fn:6] filing to address the Commission’s preliminary findings in the Show Cause Order (Abeyance Motion).[fn:7]  In this order, we grant the Abeyance Motion filed by Joint Movants and hold this proceeding in abeyance for 95 days, until November 20, 2026.  
In the Show Cause Order, the Commission stated that SPP and the Transmission Owners may request an abeyance, in whole or in part, for up to 90 days, “while they work through the stakeholder processes to develop FPA section 205 filings to revise the Tariff to address the issues raised in this order.”[fn:8]  The Commission also stated that such requests must include:  “(1) a robust description of the content of a potential future filing under FPA section 205 and (2) a reasoned and specific explanation of when such a filing is expected to be made.”[fn:9]  
Joint Movants state that the requested abeyance will allow SPP, with careful technical analysis, coordination among stakeholder groups and membership sectors, and consideration through SPP’s governance process, to develop comprehensive Tariff revisions in response to the Show Cause Order preliminary findings.[fn:10]  Joint Movants further state that the requested abeyance will promote administrative efficiency and allow SPP to focus its efforts on developing, with feedback received through the stakeholder process, an FPA section 205 filing or package of FPA section 205 filings that are intended to potentially narrow or resolve issues in this proceeding.  
Joint Movants state that SPP anticipates developing revisions to its High Impact Large Load (HILL) process that will incorporate the evaluation of alternative transmission technologies into the study process.[fn:11]  Joint Movants also state that SPP will work through the stakeholder process to develop revisions to the Tariff’s pro forma Network Integration Transmission Service Agreement and pro forma Form of Service Agreement for Firm Point-To-Point Transmission Service that would incorporate the applicable operational requirements for HILLs. 
Joint Movants also state that SPP anticipates stakeholders will evaluate development of new Tariff provisions governing the public reporting of transmission planning and transmission service information associated with HILLs, such as Network Upgrade costs associated with HILLs and including any confidentiality limitations.[fn:12]  Joint Movants also state that SPP has initiated a comprehensive stakeholder effort through its Cost Control and Allocation Review and Evaluation Team to evaluate multiple potential Tariff revisions to address the Commission’s concerns regarding cost mitigation and cost shifting, including financial security requirements, direct assignment of certain costs, other mechanisms to ensure a minimum contribution from transmission customers serving large loads, and corresponding Tariff revisions that would ensure that any amount of recovered funds are applied to reduce costs otherwise borne by transmission customers.[fn:13] 
Joint Movants state that, with regard to the treatment of co-located resources and behind-the-meter generation, stakeholder coordination is necessary to determine, among other things, the appropriate terminology and definition for generation interconnected to facilities that are not connected to the transmission system, the study process for applicable generation, and the overlap among transmission service, interconnection, and market design requirements.[fn:14]  
Finally, as to transmission services that reflect Eligible Customers taking transmission service on behalf of flexible large loads that are willing and able to limit or curtail their use of the transmission system under certain conditions, Joint Movants explain that SPP’s Price Adaptative Load and Price Adaptive Load Service proposal currently under stakeholder development will establish a new market participation model and a new non-firm transmission service designed specifically for dispatchable, price-responsive large loads.[fn:15]  Joint Movants state that SPP anticipates final stakeholder approval of the proposal on November 17, 2026.  Joint Movants also state that SPP anticipates stakeholder consideration of revisions to its Conditional High Impact Large Load Service to include control technologies and/or protective systems designed to limit energy withdrawals from the transmission system, and continued stakeholder collaboration is necessary to address technical, operational, and policy considerations.
Joint Movants state that draft revisions addressing several of the Commission’s preliminary findings in the Show Cause Order are expected to be posted for stakeholder review in early August.[fn:16]  Joint Movants anticipate working group votes on Tariff proposals during September and October, the Markets and Operations Policy Committee to review and vote in October, the Regional State Committee (RSC) to review and vote, where applicable, in November, and final SPP Board of Directors (SPP Board) consideration and vote on November 17, 2026.  Joint Movants assert that an additional five days is necessary to accommodate SPP’s full stakeholder process, which culminates in a scheduled SPP Board meeting, and ensures full participation by members of the RSC.[fn:17]  Joint Movants explain that the date of the SPP Board meeting was originally scheduled on November 3, 2026 but was changed to accommodate upcoming elections and a National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners conference, which will impact many of the RSC members who are elected officials.  Joint Movants state that following SPP Board authorization, SPP requires a brief period to finalize and submit the FPA section 205 filing(s).  Joint Movants therefore request that the Commission grant the abeyance until November 20, 2026, and establish that date as the deadline for SPP to respond to the Show Cause Order through a comprehensive FPA section 205 filing.  
On August 4, 2026, the Commission issued a notice requiring answers to the Abeyance Motion to be submitted by August 7, 2026.[fn:18]  The RSC, Public Service Commission of the State of Missouri, and Corporate Energy Buyers Association filed timely answers in support of Joint Movants’ Abeyance Motion.  
We grant the Abeyance Motion filed by Joint Movants.  Consistent with the Show Cause Order, Joint Movants have provided a robust description of the filing(s) SPP anticipates making, provided a date of November 20, 2026, by which SPP intends to make such filing, and described the on-going stakeholder process, including the time frame for stakeholder consideration, and anticipated SPP Board vote on November 17, 2026.  Such a stakeholder process will provide SPP, the Transmission Owners, and other stakeholders, including state officials who participate in the stakeholder process, an opportunity to consider region-specific solutions to the concerns raised in the Show Cause Order.  Joint Movants state that SPP intends to submit an FPA section 205 filing or package of FPA section 205 filings by November 20, 2026.[fn:19]  
Accordingly, to allow SPP’s stakeholder process to continue so that SPP can make the anticipated described filing(s), we will grant the Abeyance Motion filed by Joint Movants.  We will hold this FPA section 206 proceeding in abeyance, in full, including responses to the Show Cause Order and briefing questions, for 95 days.  Therefore, responses to the Show Cause Order will be due on November 20, 2026, and answers to responses will be due on December 21, 2026.
If SPP or Transmission Owners submit an FPA section 205 filing addressing the Commission’s preliminary findings in the Show Cause Order on or before November 20, 2026, then the obligation of the respondent(s) who have made such an FPA section 205 filing to file a response to the Show Cause Order will be suspended, and this proceeding will continue to be held in abeyance pending further Commission directive in this proceeding.  
To the extent that SPP and/or Transmission Owners intend to request in their FPA section 205 filing that the show cause proceeding be terminated in full or in part if the Commission accepts the filing, we encourage SPP and/or Transmission Owners to explain, with specificity, which of their proposed Tariff revisions they believe resolve all or some of the Commission’s preliminary findings in the Show Cause Order, and whether the Commission should terminate the Show Cause Order, in full or in part.
While we expect SPP and/or Transmission Owners to implement these tariff revisions as expeditiously as possible, we encourage SPP and/or Transmission Owners to propose an effective date that takes into account the necessary time to implement the proposed Tariff revisions and accommodate existing commercial arrangements.
By direction of the Commission. 
							


Carlos D. Clay,
Deputy Secretary.




Footnotes
[fn:2] 16 U.S.C. § 824e.
[fn:3] Sw. Power Pool, Inc., 195 FERC ¶ 61,213 (2026) (Show Cause Order).
[fn:4] Id. PP 29, 31.
[fn:5] 18 C.F.R. § 385.212 (2025).
[fn:6] 16 U.S.C. § 824d.
[fn:7] SPP states that Deseret Generation & Transmission Co-operative, Inc. is not joining as a Joint Movant but informed SPP that it does not object to the motion.  Abeyance Motion at 1 n.1.
[fn:8] Show Cause Order, 195 FERC ¶ 61,213 at P 33.
[fn:9] Id.
[fn:10] Abeyance Motion at 4.
[fn:11] Id. at 8-10.
[fn:12] Id. at 11-12.
[fn:13] Id. at 13-14.
[fn:14] Id. at 14-15.
[fn:15] Id. at 16-17.
[fn:16] Id. at 17.
[fn:17] Id. at 7, 17-18.
[fn:18] Notice Establishing Answer Period, Docket No. EL26-68-000 (issued Aug. 4, 2026).
[fn:19] Abeyance Motion at 4, 17-18.

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