Court Rules FERC Overstepped Authority in PJM Capacity Auction Rule Change, Vacating 2022 Order for Delmarva.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been found to have improperly allowed the nation’s largest power market, PJM Interconnection, to retroactively change the rules of a capacity auction. The rule change was intended to prevent a spike in electricity prices. However, an appeals court found that FERC acted outside its authority under the Federal Power Act when it approved this “tariff amendment”. The court’s decision vacates the FERC order for the 2022 capacity auction for the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.