MATL LLP 1100 Louisiana, Suite 3300 Houston, Texas 77002 Phone: (713) 821-2293 Fax: (713) 821-2229 Via etariff Hon. Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20426 RE: MATL LLP Docket No. ER17- -000 Cancellation of ColumbiaGrid Second Amended and Restated Order 1000 Functional Agreement Dear Secretary Bose: Pursuant to section 205 of the Federal Power Act 1, Part 35 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission s ( FERC or the Commission ) regulations, 2 and the Commission s prior orders concerning the Order No. 1000 compliance of MATL LLP ( MATL ) as a member of ColumbiaGrid ( ColumbiaGrid ) 3 and the Northern Tier Transmission Group ( NTTG or Northern Tier ), 4 MATL hereby submits for cancellation the Second Amended and Restated Order 1000 Functional Agreement ( ColumbiaGrid Order 1000 Agreement ). As previously described, MATL s Attachment K relies, in substantial part, on its completed transition and participation in the Northern Tier regional and interregional transmission planning processes, the Order No. 1000 filings of the NTTG parties and the Commission s rulings thereon. 5 1 16 U.S.C. 824d (2015) ( FPA ). 2 18 C.F.R. Part 35 (2015). 3 See Avista Corp., 153 FERC 61,079 at P 5 (2015) ( October 22, 2015 ColumbiaGrid Order ) (accepting MATL s filing of the Second Amended Order 1000 Agreement subject to compliance). See also Avista Corp., 154 FERC 61,165 ( March 3, 2016 ColumbiaGrid Order ). 4 See, e.g., June 30, 2016 Delegated Letter Order, Docket No. ER16-778-002; MATL LLP, 155 FERC 61,041 ( April 19, 2016 MATL Transition Order ) (accepting proposed OATT revisions subject to compliance). 5 See Portland General Elec. Co., Docket No. ER16-9-000 (Dec. 18, 2015) (delegated letter order accepting the NTTG Funding Agreement 2016-2017).
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Page 2 of 5 MATL respectfully requests waiver of FERC s prior notice requirement seeking an effective date one day after the date of the instant filing. 6 As described herein, this transition has been underway for over two years and all dockets impacting this Agreement have been resolved. Furthermore, the Commission has already reviewed and approved the operative tariff language in previous filings. I. Background As described in previous filings, 7 MATL initiated a process of withdrawing from ColumbiaGrid and transitioning to Northern Tier. Pursuant to the terms of the Second Restated PEFA, MATL submitted notice of its withdrawal from ColumbiaGrid, subject to a thirty-month withdrawal period, during which time MATL continued to participate in the ColumbiaGrid planning process. 8 During the withdrawal period, MATL made Order No. 1000 regional 9 and interregional 10 compliance filings based on its participation in ColumbiaGrid. Subsequently, MATL provided notice, effective December 31, 2015, of its withdrawal from the Third Amended Order 1000 Agreement to Puget Sound Energy, Inc., Avista Corporation, and ColumbiaGrid. 11 On March 3, 2016, the Commission accepted MATL s November 23, 2015 compliance filings. 12 The November 23, 2015 MATL filing was composed of revisions to Attachment K of 6 18 C.F.R. Part 35.3, 35.11. 7 See November 7, 2013 filing in Docket No. ER14-346-000, and December 17, 2013 filing in Docket No. ER13-836-002. 8 MATL provided ColumbiaGrid notice of withdrawal on December 16, 2013. 9 Avista Corp., 143 FERC 61,255 (2013), Docket Nos. ER13-836 et al. (Order on ColumbiaGrid parties First Regional Compliance Filing, finding regional compliance filings partially comply with requirements of Order No. 1000 and directing further compliance filings); Avista Corp., 148 FERC 61,212 (2014) (Order on ColumbiaGrid parties Second Regional Compliance Filing, accepting filings subject to modification in future compliance filings); Avista Corp., 151 FERC 61,127 (2015) (ColumbiaGrid parties Third Regional Compliance Filing, conditionally accepting the ColumbiaGrid parties regional compliance filings, subject to a further compliance filing); Avista Corp.,, 153 FERC 61,079 (2015) (Order on ColumbiaGrid parties Fourth Regional Compliance Filing, conditionally accepting the ColumbiaGrid parties regional compliance filings, subject to a further compliance filing); Avista Corp., 154 FERC 61,165 (2016) (Order denying request for rehearing and conditionally accepting the ColumbiaGrid parties regional compliance filings, subject to a further compliance filing). 10 Pub. Serv. Co. of N.M., 151 FERC 61,189 (2015). 11 See March 3, 2016 ColumbiaGrid Order, 154 FERC 61,165. 12 See Avista Corp., 154 FERC 61,165 at P 2 (2016) (March 3, 2016: accepting the ColumbiaGrid Public Utilities filing of the Third Amended Order 1000 Agreement subject to compliance).
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Page 3 of 5 the MATL Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) and the Third Amended Order 1000 Functional Agreement to comply with an October 22, 2015 Commission Order. 13 MATL had previously filed the Second Amended Order 1000 Functional Agreement on June 15, 2015. 14 During the thirty-month withdrawal period required by the ColumbiaGrid Order 1000 Agreement, MATL initiated the transition to NTTG. On January 27, 2016, as amended on February 19, 2016, MATL began its transition to NTTG in a series of filings. On April 19, 2016, the Commission accepted MATL s filings in Docket Nos ER16-778 and ER16-970, subject to further compliance. 15 Subsequently, the Commission accepted for filing MATL s Table of Contents which removed references to the ColumbiaGrid Order 1000 Agreement. 16 Now, as the operative language of the NTTG regional transmission planning process in MATL s Attachment K has been accepted, MATL files to cancel and remove the Columbia Grid Order 1000 Agreement from its OATT. MATL respectfully requests the Commission accept this cancellation. II. Documents Submitted MATL respectfully tenders with this filing the following documents: 1. This Transmittal Letter; 13 The November 23, 2015 filing was in response to the Commission s October 22, 2015 Order on MATL s June 15, 2015 compliance filings. See Avista Corp., 153 FERC 61,079 at P 5 ( October 22, 2015 ColumbiaGrid Order ) (accepting MATL s filing of the Second Amended Order 1000 Agreement subject to compliance filing). Although submitted as part of the November 23, 2015 filing, it has come to MATL s attention that errors in xml schema resulted in the Third Amended Functional Agreement failing to appear in the etariff viewer. The Second Amended Functional Agreement currently appears in the etariff viewer. 14 See Avista Corp., 153 FERC 61,079 at P 5 ( October 22, 2015 ColumbiaGrid Order ) (accepting MATL s filing of the Second Amended Order 1000 Agreement, subject to compliance). See Avista Corp., 151 FERC 61,127 ( May 14, 2015 ColumbiaGrid Order ) (accepting MATL s filing of the Amended ColumbiaGrid Order 1000 Functional Agreement, subject to compliance). 15 April 19, 2016 MATL Transition Order, 155 FERC 61,041. See June 30, 2016 Delegated Letter Order in Docket No. ER16-778-002. See also, May 18, 2016 MATL Informational Report in Docket No.16-970. 16 July 6, 2016 Delegated Letter Order in Docket No. ER16-1729 (filing to indicate the change in the supporting schedules referenced in the OATT Table of Contents from the ColumbiaGrid Functional Agreement to the NTTG Funding Agreement and include reference to Agreement No. 4, PGE Rate).
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Page 4 of 5 2. An etariff Electronic Filing Package containing the cancellation of the ColumbiaGrid Order 1000 Agreement to the OATT (RTF version with metadata and PDF copy for posting on elibrary); and 3. A Certificate of Service. III. Correspondence and Communications Correspondence and communications with respect to this filing should be sent to the following persons, who shall also be authorized to receive notice in this docket: Stacy Myers Travis Allen Senior Legal Counsel Senior Regulatory Analyst Green Power, Transmission, and Green Power, Transmission and Emerging Technology Emerging Technology Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. 1100 Louisiana St., Suite 3300 1100 Louisiana St., Suite 3300 Houston, TX 77002 Houston, TX 77002 Phone: (713) 821-2293 Phone: (713) 821-2027 Stacy.Myers@enbridge.com Travis.Allen@enbridge.com IV. Service MATL will post a copy of this submittal on its OASIS and will serve a copy of this submittal to all ColumbiaGrid parties. V. Effective Date and Waiver MATL requests that the Commission waive its sixty (60) day notice requirement as required by Section 35.3(a) of the Commission s regulations, 18 C.F.R. 35.3(a), and make this cancellation effective as of April 11, 2017. 17 There is good cause to grant such waiver. First, the tariff language put in place by the language of the Agreement has been superseded by tariff revisions filed January 27, 2016. Second, as described above, all dockets involving the ColumbiaGrid Agreement of which MATL was a part and MATL s Attachment K tariff revisions, either as a part of ColumbiaGrid or Northern Tier, have been resolved. Third, such a waiver is consistent with the Commission s grant of waivers for other, similarly situated transmission providers seeking to cancel tariff sections or service agreements. 17 The Commission's policy permits waivers of the 60-day prior notice of filing requirement in the case of a non-rate change to the terms and conditions of a Commissionaccepted Rate Schedule. See Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., 60 FERC 61,106, reh g denied, 61 FERC 61,189 (1992).
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary Page 5 of 5 VI. Conclusion For the reasons set forth above, MATL respectfully requests that the Commission accept this filing submitted herewith. If you have any questions concerning this filing, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Stacy Myers Stacy Myers Senior Legal Counsel Green Power, Transmission, and Emerging Technology Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. Attorney for MATL LLP Attachments
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I have this day caused the foregoing document to be served upon ColumbiaGrid parties. Dated at Houston, Texas, this 10 th day of April, 2017. /s/ Stacy Myers Stacy Myers Senior Legal Counsel Green Power, Transmission, and Emerging Technology Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. 1100 Louisiana St., Suite 3300 Houston, TX 77002
FERC rendition of the electronically filed tariff records in Docket No. ER17-01397-000 Filing Data: CID: C000240 Filing Title: MATL ColumbiaGrid Agreement Cancellation Company Filing Identifier: 5002 Type of Filing Code: 420 Associated Filing Identifier: Tariff Title: Original Volume No. 0 Tariff ID: 28 Payment Confirmation: Suspension Motion: Tariff Record Data: Record Content Description, Tariff Record Title, Record Version Number, Option Code: Order 1000, ColumbiaGrid, Functional Agreement, 9.0.1, A Record Narative Name: Tariff Record ID: 3147 Tariff Record Collation Value: 805306368 Tariff Record Parent Identifier: 0 Proposed Date: 2017-04-11 Priority Order: 1000000000 Record Change Type: CHANGE Record Content Type: Associated Filing Identifier: 5001 This is a PDF section and we cannot render PDF in a RTF document.
Document Content(s) MATL_CGrid_Cancellation_Transmittal.PDF...1-6 FERC GENERATED TARIFF FILING.RTF...7-7