"According to a notice from the FERC secretary, “In the absence of commission action on or before September 28, 2021, PJM’s proposal became effective by operation of law. Accordingly, the effective date of the proposed tariff sheets is September 29, 2021. The commission did not act on PJM’s filing because the commissioners are divided two against two as to the lawfulness of the change.”

FERC is currently composed of two Democrats, chairman Richard Glick and Allison Clements, and two Republicans, James Danly and Mark Christie. Although the notice did not clarify the individual commissioners’ positions, most observers believe the divide fell along party lines. Glick, for instance, has been an outspoken critic of the order since it was issued in December 2019.

The FERC order instructed PJM to dramatically expand its MOPR to cover new and existing energy sources, including renewables and nuclear, which receive “out-of-market” state subsidies, effectively raising the bidding price for those sources in PJM’s forward-looking capacity auctions."