Arlington Valley Solar Energy II LLC (AVSE) submitted on May 6 to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a notice of self-certification as an exempt wholesale generator (EWG) for its 125-MW solar project.
AVSE is currently developing a 125-MW solar photovoltaic facility located in Maricopa County, Ariz. The project is currently under construction and is expected to achieve commercial operation in December 2013. AVSE is interconnected to the Hassayampa Switchyard, which is connected to both the Arizona Public Service and El Paso Electric transmission systems.
AVSE is an affiliate of LS Power Development LLC. LS Power is a Delaware limited liability company that is wholly owned by certain private individuals and associated entities. LS Power is the general partner of LS Power Associates LP, and the principal operating company (i.e., the employer of the majority of the staff) of its controlled subsidiaries. LS Power develops, owns, and operates independent power projects in the United States.
GE Energy Financial Services is participating in AVSE as a tax equity investor. GE’s interest is purely passive and it exercises no control over AVSE, the filing noted.
AVSE also concurrently filed an application with FERC for market-based rate authority. In that filing, the company noted that it started preliminary pre-commercial testing of an initial portion (less than 20 MW) of the project on April 9 and inadvertently delivered test power to the grid during the course of such testing without prior commission authorization.
“The test energy that has been delivered to the grid is intermittent in nature, is not scheduled, and is not energy that is part of the power purchase agreement with [San Diego Gas & Electric] SDG&E,” the company told FERC. “AVSE has not started delivering energy to SDG&E under the power purchase agreement and SDG&E does not have a right to take, or obligation to pay for, test energy under the power purchase agreement.”
