According to an agreement approved on September 30, 2022, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), ISO New England (ISO-NE) will pay a $500,000 fine to settle allegations that it violated market rules by allowing a 674 MW natural gas-fired power plant to collect money from consumers before the facility had produced any power.[1] The settlement between ISO-NE and FERC’s Office of Enforcement was approved by FERC commissioners in a 4-0 decision. The investigation, which took place over the last five years, found that ISO-NE issued over $104 million in payments to Salem Harbor Power Development LP, a subsidiary of Footprint, in 2017 and 2018 despite knowing that the company’s gas facility was not going to meet its expected commercial operating date. The Salem Harbor Generating Station was initially expected to enter commercial operation on May 31, 2017. However, it did not reach commercial operations until June 2018. The grid operator also withheld information about the facility from its independent market monitor.

In the agreement, ISO-NE agreed to the facts presented by FERC staff but “neither admits nor denies” that any violations occurred. The fine will be paid through a reduction in compensation for ISO-NE’s 10-person senior leadership team. The grid operator also agreed to invest up to $350,000 to bolster its compliance program to prevent future incidents.

[1] https://elibrary.ferc.gov/eLibrary/filelist?accession_number=20220930-3077&optimized=false