C.F.R. » Title 18 » CHAPTER I—FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY › SUBCHAPTER K—REGULATIONS UNDER THE PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY POLICIES ACT OF 1978 › PART 292—REGULATIONS UNDER SECTIONS 201 AND 210 OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY POLICIES ACT OF 1978 WITH REGARD TO SMALL POWER PRODUCTION AND COGENERATION › Subpart B—Qualifying Cogeneration and Small Power Production Facilities

18 C.F.R. § 292.204

Criteria for qualifying small power production facilities

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(a) Size of the facility—(1) Maximum size. Except as provided in paragraph (a)(4) of this section, the power production capacity of a facility for which qualification is sought, together with the power production capacity of any other small power production qualifying facilities that use the same energy resource, are owned by the same person(s) or its affiliates, and are located at the same site, may not exceed 80 megawatts.

(2) Method of calculation. (i)(A) For purposes of this paragraph (a)(2), there is an irrebuttable presumption that affiliated small power production qualifying facilities that use the same energy resource and are located one mile or less from the facility for which qualification or recertification is sought are located at the same site as the facility for which qualification or recertification is sought.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph (a)(2), for facilities for which qualification or recertification is filed on or after December 31, 2020 there is an irrebuttable presumption that affiliated small power production qualifying facilities that use the same energy resource and are located 10 miles or more from the facility for which qualification or recertification is sought are located at separate sites from the facility for which qualification or recertification is sought.

(C) For purposes of this paragraph (a)(2), for facilities for which qualification or recertification is filed on or after December 31, 2020, there is a rebuttable presumption that affiliated small power production qualifying facilities that use the same energy resource and are located more than one mile and less than 10 miles from the facility for which qualification or recertification is sought are located at separate sites from the facility for which qualification or recertification is sought.

(D) For hydroelectric facilities, facilities are considered to be located at the same site as the facility for which qualification or recertification is sought if they are located within one mile of the facility for which qualification or recertification is sought and use water from the same impoundment for power generation.

(ii) For purposes of making the determinations in paragraph (a)(2)(i), the distance between two facilities shall be measured from the edge of the closest electrical generating equipment for which qualification or recertification is sought to the edge of the nearest electrical generating equipment of the other affiliated small power production qualifying facility using the same energy resource.

(3) Waiver. The Commission may modify the application of paragraph (a)(2) of this section, for good cause.

(4) Exception. Facilities meeting the criteria in section 3(17)(E) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796(17)(E)) have no maximum size, and the power production capacity of such facilities shall be excluded from consideration when determining the size of other small power production facilities less than 10 miles from such facilities.

(b) Fuel use. (1)(i) The primary energy source of the facility must be biomass, waste, renewable resources, geothermal resources, or any combination thereof, and 75 percent or more of the total energy input must be from these sources.

(ii) Any primary energy source which, on the basis of its energy content, is 50 percent or more biomass shall be considered biomass.

(2) Use of oil, natural gas and coal by a facility, under section 3(17)(B) of the Federal Power Act, is limited to the minimum amounts of fuel required for ignition, startup, testing, flame stabilization, and control uses, and the minimum amounts of fuel required to alleviate or prevent unanticipated equipment outages, and emergencies, directly affecting the public health, safety, or welfare, which would result from electric power outages. Such fuel use may not, in the aggregate, exceed 25 percent of the total energy input of the facility during the 12-month period beginning with the date the facility first produces electric energy and any calendar year subsequent to the year in which the facility first produces electric energy.

(Energy Security Act, Pub. L. 96-294, 94 Stat. 611 (1980) Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, 16 U.S.C. 2601, et seq., Energy Supply and Environmental Coordination Act, 15, U.S.C. 791, et seq., Federal Power Act, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 792 et seq., Department of Energy Organization Act, 42 U.S.C. 7101, et seq.; E.O. 12009, 42 FR 46267) [45 FR 17972, Mar. 20, 1980, as amended by Order 135, 46 FR 19231, Mar. 30, 1981; Order 575, 60 FR 4857, Jan. 25, 1995; Order 732, 75 FR 15966, Mar. 30, 2010; Order 872, 85 FR 54732, Sept. 2, 2020]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 24 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 1990–2025 · leading case: S. California Edison Co. v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n, 195 F.3d 17 (D.C. Cir. 1999).
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S. California Edison Co. v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n, 195 F.3d 17 (D.C. Cir. 1999). · cites it 8× “18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (b)(2) (1999). II. Laidlaw Gas Recovery Systems, Inc.”
Exelon Wind 1, L.L.C. v. Donna Nelson, et a, 766 F.3d 380 (5th Cir. 2014). · cites it 2× “So, since Qualifying facilities may include wind power producers, see 18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (a)–(b) (covering small power producers whose primary energy source is renewable resources, including wind), and the PUC Rule defines “legally enforceable obligation” so that those…”
Sierra Club v. Pub. Serv. Comm'n of West Virginia, 827 S.E.2d 224 (W. Va. 2019). “]" See also , 18 C.F.R. § 292.204 [2010] ("Criteria for qualifying small power production facilities.”
Solar Energy Indus. Ass'n v. FERC, 59 F.4th 1287 (D.C. Cir. 2023). · cites it 2× “§ 796 (17)(A)(ii); see also 18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (a)(1)–(2). As we have discussed, the Commission’s interpretation of “facility” to encompass all the components working together to produce grid-usable AC power was reasonable.”
Resource Tech. Corp. v. Illinois Com. Comm'n, 822 N.E.2d 50 (Ill. App. Ct. 2004). · cites it 2× “See 18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (b)(l)(i) (2004). RTC has not carried its burden of establishing that the Commission’s proposed review is preempted by federal law.”
N. Laramie Range All. v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n, 733 F.3d 1030 (10th Cir. 2013). “18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (a)(2)(i)-(ii). But the clusters will be more than a mile apart.”
City of Boulder v. Colorado Pub. Utils. Comm'n, 996 P.2d 1270 (Colo. 2000). · cites it 2× “See 18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (a)(1). They must also have a primary fuel source which is 75% biomass (i.”
Wheelabrator Lisbon, Inc. v. Connecticut Dep't of Pub. Util. Control, 531 F.3d 183 (2d Cir. 2008). “§ 796 (17)(C); 18 C.F.R. § 292.204 . 7 . Section 210(e) of PURPA, and the corresponding implementing regulations, exempt qualifying facilities from certain federal laws and regulations as well as state laws and regulations “respecting the rates, or respecting the financial or…”
In re Programmatic Changes to the Stand.-Offer Prog., 2014 VT 29 (Vt. 2014). “18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (a)(1). The combined capacity of the Bennington and Apple Hill plants is well within this definition of a “small” plant.”
Sugarloaf Citizens Ass'n. v. Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n, 959 F.2d 508 (4th Cir. 1992). · cites it 2× “18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (1990). Specifically, any facility that (1) has a power production capacity of less than 80 megawatts, (2) obtains 75 percent or more of its energy input from biomass, waste or renewable or geothermal resources, and (3) is not more than 50 percent owned by…”
Whitehall Wind, LLC v. Montana Pub. Serv. Comm'n, 2010 MT 2 (Mont. 2010). “18 C.F.R. § 292.204 (2008). ¶8 Whitehall attempted unsuccessfully to negotiate a contract with Northwestern for the sale of wind-generated electricity from Whitehall’s 50 megawatt wind generation facility near Whitehall, Montana.”
In re Investigation to Review the Avoided Costs that Serve as Prices for the Stand.-Offer Prog. in 2020 (Allco Renewable Energy Ltd. & PLH LLC, Appellants), 2021 VT 28 (Vt. 2021). “§ 796(17)(A); 18 C.F.R. § 292.204 . 2 specifically states that no rule prescribed to implement the statute may “provide for a rate which exceeds the incremental cost to the electric utility of alternative electric energy.”
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