About Us

Generation Facilities

Arkansas' electric cooperatives own about 2,672 megawatts of generating capacity through their generation and transmission cooperative, Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC). Based in Little Rock, AECC owns and operates three natural gas/oil-based plants and owns or leases portions of three coal-based plants. It also owns and operates three hydroelectric generating stations on the Arkansas River and three natural gas-based simple-cycle plants.

AECC supplies wholesale electricity to 17 of the state's electric distribution cooperatives. Collectively, Arkansas' electric cooperatives provide electricity on the retail level to more than 490,000 members in Arkansas and surrounding states.

Facilities Interconnection Requirements

Purpose

This document has been prepared by the Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corporation Planning Department to assist potential interconnectors of generator, transmission and end user facilities to the systems of AECC and its member cooperatives (AECC collectively). It provides a general overview of AECC’s interconnection process and requirements and provides references to additional information used by AECC in the processing of an interconnection request. This document is a work in progress, may be changed without notice and is not intended to be all inclusive.

Introduction

AECC is a generation and transmission cooperative and serves as the wholesale power supplier for the seventeen distribution cooperatives in the state of Arkansas. Together AECC and its member cooperatives, serve approximately 62% of the geographical area of Arkansas and approximately 30% of the total load in the state. Although AECC covers the vast majority of the state the number of transmission facilities owned by AECC is limited. AECC has four transmission lines which are considered to be part of the interconnected Bulk Electric System as defined by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The remaining AECC transmission facilities are transmission substations, generator interconnections, or radial lines to load serving distribution substations. Instead of owning a contiguous transmission system, AECC utilizes contract arrangements with Entergy Arkansas Inc. (Entergy), the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), American Electric Power (AEP), and the Southwestern Power Administration (SWPA) which allow AECC to use their transmission grids to meet the needs of its member cooperatives. Under the provisions of these contracts AECC works very closely with the transmission owners to ensure that interconnections are adequately planned, designed and constructed in order to ensure and maintain the reliability of the Bulk Electric System.

Under the above mentioned contract provisions AECC and its member cooperatives have obligations and responsibilities which must be met. In addition AECC is subject to the rules and regulations set forth by the Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) and the mandatory NERC Reliability Standards. These responsibilities, obligations and rules along with the generator interconnection rules set forth by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are the basis for AECC’s interconnection process. AECC is not directly FERC jurisdictional however AECC utilizes the FERC processes for two reasons. First to ensure requests are treated consistently and fairly. Secondly to expedite the request in the event there are third party impacts. Because AECC facilities are so interconnected to those of Entergy, AEP, and SWPA the likelihood that an interconnection on a AECC system will create an impact on another transmission owners system is real. In the event a request would create a third party impact the third party has the right to study the impacts of the interconnection using their own processes. In the case of Entergy and AEP, and SPP they are under the jurisdiction of FERC and are required to use the FERC process. AECC utilizing the FERC process will hopefully reduce the impact on the requestor in the event a third party study is required.

This document covers three forms of interconnection, the interconnection of generator facilities, transmission facilities, and end user facilities for serving load. AECC processes and evaluates each interconnection request on a case by case basis. Since most requests for end user facilities will be processed under AECC member cooperative’s policies, it is expected the majority of the interconnection requests received by AECC will be for generation interconnections. Requests to interconnect transmission facilities or end user facilities not under member cooperative policies will be processed using the generator interconnection processes as a guide where applicable. It should be noted that the interconnection process only addresses the physical interconnection of facilities and their impacts. It does not cover the process(s) required to obtain transmission service for the delivery, transport or receipt of energy or any other purpose.

Depending on the interconnection request and the type and details of the facilities included in the request, the facilities may be subject to the FERC approved mandatory NERC Reliability Standards. Facilities that may qualify are generators or generation plants greater than 20 MW and facilities which fall under the NERC definition of the Bulk Electric System. In addition to the standards themselves there are two companion documents which are essential to understanding the standards. They are: the NERC Glossary Of Terms Used In The Reliability Standards and the NERC Reliability Functional Model. The standards and these two documents can be found on NERC’s website at: http://www.nerc.com

Generation Interconnection

To determine the applicable rules for a generator interconnection request several things must be know about the generator. The type of generator, number of units, its size (MVA), location, and the interconnection voltage are needed. How the generator owner plans to operate the generator is also important. As discussed above, AECC utilizes the interconnection processes outlined by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Arkansas Public Service Commission (APSC) to evaluate generation interconnection requests. To assist the requestor in determining which rules apply the following discussions and associated links to the rules are provided.

Many of the documents referred to in the following sections are in the Adobe Acrobat PDF format which can be viewed using Adobe’s free Adobe Reader. If you do not have a copy, the Adobe Reader it can be downloaded at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

Generators 100 kW or less (Photovoltaic, Small Wind, etc.)

If the facility is 100 kW or less the APSC Net Metering Rules may be of interest. These can be found at: APSC Website. AECC has developed a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation summarizing the Net Metering rules. The presentation can be downloaded at: APSC Net Metering Rules presentation.

Small Generators less than 20 MW (single or multiple units) not under Net Meter Rules

Facilities with a single unit or multiple units up to 20 MW which do not qualify under the Net Metering rules and are planned to operate in parallel with AECC systems will be processed using the FERC Small Generator Rules (Order 2006). These rules can be found at: FERC Small Gen Rules. Associated with the rules is a press release from FERC which may be of interest. The press release can be found at: FERC Small Gen Rules. AECC has developed a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation which summarizes the Small Generator rules and provides insight as to how AECC will apply the Small Generator rules. The presentation can be downloaded at: Small Gen Rules presentation.

Large Generators 20 MW or higher

Facilities with a single unit or multiple units totaling 20 Mw or more and planned to operate in parallel with AECC systems will be processed under the FERC Large Generator Rules (Order 2003-A). These rules can be found at: FERC Large Gen Rules. AECC has developed a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation which summarizes the Small Generator rules and provides insight as to how AECC will apply the Large Generator rules. The presentation can be downloaded at: Large Gen Rules presentation. It should be noted that facilities greater than 20 MW may be subject to the FERC approved mandatory NERC Reliability Standards applicable to Generator Owners and Generator Operators as defined by NERC. These standards can be found at: NERC Website.

Co-Generation Qualifying Facility

If the facility is a Co-Generation facility APSC Co-Generation Rules is the place to start. The rules can be found at: APSC Co Gen Rules. AECC has developed a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation summarizing the Co-Generation rules. The presentation can be downloaded at: APSC Co-Generation Rules presentation. To qualify under the Co-Gen rules the facility has to meet the definition(s) as defined in the rules. It should be noted that Co-Generation units greater than 20 MW may be subject to the FERC approved mandatory NERC Reliability Standards applicable to Generator Owners and Generator Operators as defined by NERC. These standards can be found at: NERC Website. AECC will use the FERC generator interconnection rules to process Co-Gen requests. Units under 20 Mw will be subject to the FER Small Generator Rules (Order 2006) and units 20 Mw and larger will be subject to the FERC Large Generator Rules (Order 2003-A). The small generator rules can be found at: FERC Small Gen Rules and the large generator rules can be found at: FERC Large Gen Rules.

Transmission Interconnections

Due to the sparseness of AECC transmission facilities and the limitations under which AECC can operate its transmission AECC believes it is unlikely that an entity would request a transmission interconnection with AECC. In the event a request is received AECC will work with the requestor to process the request in a fair and timely manner. If the transmission request has a termination with an entity other than AECC, AECC will work with the other entity to process the request and assist the other entity in their evaluation of the request where possible. Depending on the request, a process and studies similar to the ones used for small generator interconnections may be required. The process will be adapted to insure that the impacts of the interconnection are identified and addressed to the satisfaction of all parties. If the interconnection impacts other utilities, the utility may require their own studies be performed under their processes. In such cases AECC will coordinate between the requestor and the other parties. Transmission facilities that create an interconnection between two Balancing Authorities will be subject to the Southwest Power Pool Transmission Working Group Interconnection Review Process. A copy of this process can be found at: SPP Website. It should be noted that transmission interconnections may be subject to the FERC approved mandatory NERC Reliability Standards applicable to Transmission Owners and possibly Transmission Operators as defined by NERC.

End User Facilities

In the state of Arkansas the retail service areas for utilities are defined. Each utility is obligated to serve the load in their service territory within the provisions of their line extension policies. Arkansas is not a retail choice state and any load locating in a utilities service territory is required to take service from that utility unless the utility grants and the APSC approves a release for the load to be served by another utility. A list of contact information for the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas can be found at Cooperative Contacts. Please contact your local electric cooperative for information concerning your power needs and the interconnection of your load serving facilities. It should be noted that end use facilities may be subject to the FERC approved mandatory NERC Reliability Standards applicable to Load Serving Entities and possibly Distribution Providers as defined by NERC.

Any request for end user facilities not addressed under the line extension policies of the local electric cooperatives or requests to interconnect at 69 kV or above will be considered by AECC on a case by case basis. Depending on the request, a process and studies similar to the ones used for small generator interconnections may be required. The process will be adapted to insure that the impacts of the interconnection are identified and addressed to the satisfaction of all parties. If the interconnection impacts other utilities, the utility may require their own studies be performed under their processes. In such cases AECC will coordinate between the requestor and the other parties.

Rates

The most common questions asked concerning a generator interconnection are about rates and how much AECC is willing to pay for the electricity generated. The answers depend on several factors. First and foremost is that unless the generator is a Qualifying Facility under the APSC Co-Generation Rules or a net metered generator under the APSC Net Metering Rules AECC is not obligated to purchase the energy from the generator. At AECC’s option AECC may offer a rate to purchase the energy. This rate is usually based on AECC avoided cost.

Please direct any questions concerning rates to the appropriate AECC personnel listed on the contact page.

Cooperative Contact Information:

Useful Links:

PDFs

• AECC Design and Operating Requirements for Interconnected Facilities
• AECC Large Generator Interconnection Procedures
• AECC Small Generator Interconnection Procedures
• Summary of Arkansas Public Service Commission Net Metering & Co-Gen Rules