Revisions to Form, Procedures, and Criteria for Certification of Qualifying Facility Status for a Small Power Production or Cogeneration Facility

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is revising its regulations, which prior to this Final Rule provided the FERC Form No. 556 that is used in the certification of qualifying status for an existing or proposed small power production or cogeneration facility. The adopted revisions remove the contents of the Form No. 556 from the regulations, and, in their place, provide that an applicant seeking to certify qualifying facility (QF) status of a small power production or cogeneration facility must complete, and electronically file, the Form No. 556 that is in effect at the time of filing. We also revise and reformat the Form No. 556 to clarify the content of the form and to take advantage of newer technologies that will reduce both the filing burden for applicants and the processing burden for the Commission. We also adopt an exemption, for generating facilities with net power production capacities of 1 MW or less, from the requirement that a generating facility, to be a QF, file either a notice of self-certification or an application for Commission certification, and codify the Commission's authority to waive the QF certification requirement for good cause. Finally, we clarify, simplify or correct certain sections of the regulations relating to certifying QF status.