Appeals court upholds FERC decision ordering refunds from MISO transmission owners

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Dive Brief:

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision in 2024 to lower the return on equity for transmission owners in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator footprint and to order refunds to ratepayers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dismissed arguments from the transmission owners that the Federal Power Act limits refunds to a single 15-month period.

The decision could affect Eversource Energy and other transmission owners in New England that have challenged a March FERC decision to lower their allowed ROE and issue roughly $1.5 billion in refunds, according to Ari Peskoe, director of Harvard Law School’s Electricity Law Initiative. When the utilities asked FERC to stay its decision — a request the agency rejected in May — they primarily used arguments the appeals court just rejected, Peskoe said in an email Wednesday. The utilities in May asked the appeals court to overturn FERC’s ROE decision.