Press/Announcements

OATI Responds to the United States Court of Appeals’ Rejection of FERC Order 745

Following the dismissal of FERC Order 745, Open Access Technology International, Inc. (OATI) is providing the industry a new approach to reliable and cost-efficient energy.

Minneapolis, MN: June 05, 2014 — On May 23, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals rejected Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 745, under which independent System Operators (ISOs) were ordered to compensate Demand Response (DR) at Locational Marginal Price (LMP) rates.

FERC 745 was challenged by grid operators and power suppliers represented by the Electric Power Supply Association, American Public Power Association and others, claiming FERC was overstepping its bounds and that retail sales in wholesale markets should be handled by the states.

“This latest ruling could significantly impact aggregators especially those operating in the PJM market, since it covers how the ISO compensates DR in its energy market,” said Dr. Ali Ipakchi, Vice President of Smart Grid and Green Power at OATI. “It also clarifies jurisdictional issues between FERC and the states and could impact how the ISO DR markets are handled at the retail level.”

As a result of this ruling, a new Distribution System Operator (DSO) construct, proposed by OATI in the June 2014 issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly magazine, could potentially serve as a link between wholesale and retail energy markets. The OATI patent-pending DSO construct establishes the framework for managing retail assets and markets, as well as their interactions with both bulk system operators and markets.

“The DSO concept, and specifically the role of distribution companies in retail markets, is now more important than ever,” said Dr. Farrokh Rahimi, Vice President of Market Design and Consulting at OATI. “This forward-thinking concept provides a market-based means to manage distributed generation, distributed storage, and DR resources.”
The prominent role the DSO construct will have on the future of energy has garnered national attention, including that of Public Utilities Fortnightly magazine. The full DSO article is currently available in their June 2014 edition.

About OATI
OATI provides innovative software solutions that simplify, streamline, and empower the operational tasks required in today’s energy commerce and Smart Grid. With more than 1,800 customers in North America, OATI successfully deploys large, complicated, and diverse mission-critical applications committed to industry standards and stringent NERC CIP guidelines.

OATI (www.oati.com) is a leading provider of Smart Grid, Energy Trading and Risk Management, Transmission Scheduling, Congestion Management, and Market Management products and services. OATI is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with an office in Redwood City, California. For more information, please contact sales@oati.net.