Industry: Trump’s FERC ‘padding fossil fuel profits’ with rule change

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email
Arial shot of District of Columbia, part of the PJM electricity market. Source: Flickr, La Citta Vita

US renewable energy associations have filed a request to the federal energy watchdog for the rehearing of an order mandating a PJM capacity market pricing system overhaul that they say will pad profits for fossil fuel generators at the expense of consumers and clean energy development.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order on 19 December requiring that PJM, the nation’s largest electric grid operator that covers 13 states and the District of Columbia, expand the scope of its minimum offer price rule (MOPR) in order to blunt the impact of state-subsidised resources on the market.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Unlock unlimited access for 12 whole months of distinctive global analysis

Photovoltaics International is now included.

  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Unlimited digital access to the PV Tech Power journal catalogue
  • Unlimited digital access to the Photovoltaics International journal catalogue
  • Access to more than 1,000 technical papers
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

It was the long-awaited follow-up to a June 2018 order by the FERC which declared the PJM’s existing tariff system “unjust and unreasonable” due to price distortions caused by state subsidies.

The decision issued last month by the Commission mandates that almost all state-subsidized power resources hit a PJM-determined price floor currently only applied to natural gas generators in order to participate in forward-looking capacity auctions.

The Solar Energies Industries Association (SEIA), the American Council on Renewable Energy,  the American Wind Energy Association and the Advanced Energy Economy slammed the decision, which they say will block new clean energy resources from participating in wholesale markets and hike prices for consumers.

The row is the latest in a slew of policy rows raging between the solar industry and the federal administration, joining the ranks of SEIA-fronted campaigns to overturn federally-mandated trade tariffs on imported solar cells and modules and to prevent the depreciation of the federal solar investment tax credit.

SEIA, ACORE: Justification of order is “cavalier and factually inaccurate”

In the joint filing, the industry groups contended that the decision oversteps federal jurisdiction and will undermine state clean energy programs. They also decried a lack of due process and justification for the decision.

“The Commission offers a cavalier and factually inaccurate justification for the Order,” the filing reads, noting that industry requests for a rehearing after the original 2018 decision were ignored.

“The Order, with little explanation, drastically and arbitrarily expanded the application of the MOPR to the point where it ‘could potentially apply to any conceivable state effort to shape the generation mix,” it added.

Under the new rules, PJM must expand the scope of MOPR to all new and existing resources that receive or are eligible to receive state subsidies, with a few exceptions. Existing self-supply, demand response, storage and energy efficiency resources were declared exempt from the updated MOPR, as were existing renewables already participating in a renewable portfolio standard programme.

The FERC gave PJM 90 days to comply with its December order.

Read the request for rehearing here.

Read the December 2019 order here.

Read the June 2018 order here.

7 October 2025
San Francisco Bay Area, USA
PV Tech has been running an annual PV CellTech Conference since 2016. PV CellTech USA, on 7-8 October 2025 is our third PV CellTech conference dedicated to the U.S. manufacturing sector. The events in 2023 and 2024 were a sell out success and 2025 will once again gather the key stakeholders from PV manufacturing, equipment/materials, policy-making and strategy, capital equipment investment and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out PV manufacturing in the U.S. out to 2030 and beyond.
21 October 2025
New York, USA
Returning for its 12th edition, Solar and Storage Finance USA Summit remains the annual event where decision-makers at the forefront of solar and storage projects across the United States and capital converge. Featuring the most active solar and storage transactors, join us for a packed two-days of deal-making, learning and networking.
16 June 2026
Napa, USA
PV Tech has been running PV ModuleTech Conferences since 2017. PV ModuleTech USA, on 16-17 June 2026, will be our fifth PV ModulelTech conference dedicated to the U.S. utility scale solar sector. The event will gather the key stakeholders from solar developers, solar asset owners and investors, PV manufacturing, policy-making and and all interested downstream channels and third-party entities. The goal is simple: to map out the PV module supply channels to the U.S. out to 2027 and beyond.

Read Next

June 30, 2025
Heliene has completed the sale of Section 45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Tax Credits in association with Minnesota-based U.S. Bank.
June 30, 2025
Voting on the US tax reconciliation bill is expected to begin in the Senate today, following a draft published on Friday that hit clean energy tax credits hard.
June 30, 2025
US clean energy developer Clearway Energy Group has received corporate credit facilities over US$1 billion.
June 26, 2025
A round-up of news from the US solar sector this week, including Akuo, Meta and RWE.
June 26, 2025
A group of minority shareholders in Norwegian silicon firm REC Silicon has triggered an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the closure of the company’s US polysilicon production site.
June 26, 2025
Adapture Renewables and Meta have signed two EAPAs that will see the latter acquire power from a 360MW Texas solar portfolio.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
June 30, 2025
10am PST / 6pm BST
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Solar Media Events
July 1, 2025
London, UK
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
July 2, 2025
Bangkok, Thailand
Media Partners, Solar Media Events
September 2, 2025
Mexico City, Mexico