EL26-71-000 · 2026-08-03 · DCR Transmission, L.L.C.
Motion to Hold Filing Obligation in Abeyance of DCR Transmission, L.L.C
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BEFORE THE
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION
California Independent System Operator
Corporation
Citizen S-Line Transmission LLC
Citizens Sunrise Transmission LLC
Citizens Sycamore-Penasquitos Transmission
LLC
City of Anaheim, California
City of Azusa, California
City of Banning, California
City of Colton, California
City of Pasadena, California
City of Riverside, California
DCR Transmission, L.L.C.
DesertLink, LLC
GridLiance West LLC
Horizon West Transmission, LLC
LS Power Grid California, LLC
Morongo Transmission LLC
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
San Diego Gas & Electric Company
Southern California Edison Company
Startrans IO, L.L.C.
SunZia Transmission, LLC
Trans Bay Cable LLC
Valley Electric Association, Inc.
Viridon Path 15, LLC
Western Area Power Administration
)
)
)
)
Docket No. EL26-71-000
MOTION TO HOLD FILING OBLIGATION IN ABEYANCE
OF DCR TRANSMISSION, L.L.C.
Pursuant to Rules 206, 212, and 213 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s
(“FERC” or “Commission”) Rules of Practice and Procedure,1 DCR Transmission, L.L.C.
(“DCRT”) respectfully submits this motion for abeyance of the above-captioned proceeding
established by the Commission’s June 18, 2026, Order Instituting Proceeding Under Section 206
118 C.F.R. §§ 385.206, 385.212, and 385.213 (2026).
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of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) (the “OSC”).2 Consistent with the OSC and as explained herein,
DCRT requests the Commission hold this proceeding, including the deadline for responding to the
briefing questions, in abeyance for ninety (90) days, up to and including November 16, 2026, so
that DCRT may fully respond to the issues raised in the OSC and submit any necessary filings
with the Commission. The deferral of DCRT’s deadline to respond to the OSC would allow DCRT
to coordinate with the relevant stakeholders, including the California Independent System
Operator Corporation (“CAISO”) and, as necessary, DCRT’s interconnecting utilities in Arizona
(as explained below), to comprehensively analyze the issues identified by the Commission and
prepare any necessary submissions to the Commission, including an FPA section 205 filing
revising DCRT’s Transmission Owner (“TO”) Tariff.
I.
BACKGROUND
DCRT is a Participating Transmission Owner (“PTO”) and thus a TO under the CAISO
Open Access Transmission Tariff (“CAISO Tariff”). DCRT owns and manages the 125-mile, 500
kilovolt Ten West Link Transmission Line (“Ten West Link”), which runs from Arizona Public
Service Company’s (“APS”) Delaney Substation to Southern California Edison’s (“SCE”)
Colorado River Substation. In 2015, DCRT won the CAISO’s competitive solicitation leading to
the development of Ten West Link. Ten West Link entered commercial operation in June 2024,
and is currently one of the few interconnections between Arizona and southern California.
Approximately 100 miles of Ten West Link are in Arizona.
The entirety of Ten West Link, including the portion located in Arizona, is part of the
CAISO Balancing Authority Area (“BAA”) and is subject to the CAISO’s operational control,
with transmission-related service over the line provided under the CAISO Tariff and DCRT’s TO
2 Cal. Independent Sys. Operator Corp., 195 FERC ¶ 61,214 (2026) (“OSC”).
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Tariff. Therefore, Ten West Link is integrated into the CAISO transmission system, and, in fact,
extends the CAISO footprint into the retail franchise territory of APS, a state-franchised utility
that is not a PTO and that operates its own BAA and is regulated by the Arizona Corporation
Commission. This means a large load seeking transmission service from the Arizona portion of
DCRT’s facility would sit within the retail service territory of a state-franchised utility, outside the
CAISO BAA, while interconnecting to a facility that is part of the CAISO controlled grid.
As the Commission understands, the OSC raises a wide range of issues for industry
participants, especially transmission-only companies (“Transcos”) like DCRT. Tariff provisions
that presume a traditional franchised public utility model (e.g., a retail tariff, traditional native load
customers, a retail regulator) do not properly apply to Transcos. DCRT is a prototypical example:
DCRT is not a Load Serving Entity (“LSE”), has no network customers, and every mile of its
transmission facility is part of the CAISO controlled grid, even though most of its facilities are in
Arizona, across a state boundary and within the retail franchise territory of APS. APS is not fully
integrated into the CAISO footprint.3
DCRT’s differences from a traditional utility with a franchised service territory are a
structural feature of DCRT’s Commission-approved role as a transmission-only PTO, not a defect
in DCRT’s existing TO Tariff. It does mean, however, that the potential tariff provisions DCRT
develops in response to the OSC may not necessarily be adapted from the integrated-utility model;
they must be drafted for the transmission-only context, and this distinction is what primarily drives
DCRT’s requested abeyance. DCRT’s TO Tariff revisions must not only address DCRT’s
obligations under the CAISO framework but also interface with the retail framework of a state-
3 APS voluntarily participates in the CAISO-administered Western Energy Imbalance Market; that
participation does not place APS’s transmission facilities under CAISO operational control.
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franchised utility in whose non-CAISO-controlled territory a large load sits. DCRT must balance
these obligations without displacing that utility’s franchise and without converting DCRT, or any
other wholesale entity, into a retail supplier in Arizona.
DCRT’s operational circumstances are equally distinct. Ten West Link currently
contributes significantly to the westbound delivery of Arizona resources to California load, and a
large load withdrawing energy at or near the Arizona portion of the line would run counter to those
prevailing flows. DCRT’s network upgrade, cost-causation, and curtailment analyses that the OSC
directs must provide for that configuration.
II.
MOTION FOR ABEYANCE
A.
The OSC Requires Substantial Coordination by Multiple Stakeholders and
Time to Address DCRT’s Unique Circumstances
DCRT understands the Commission is focusing on the integration of large loads into the
bulk power system and the national and regional economies. DCRT commends the Commission
for focusing on this issue to promote the greater national interest. DCRT believes that the
interconnection and provision of transmission service to Eligible Customers on behalf of large
loads in the CAISO region can be faster, more cost-effective, and ultimately better for transmission
customers. DCRT appreciates the Commission’s desire for prompt action and the invitation to be
the “first wielder of the pen.”4
In the OSC, the Commission states that it will consider requests for abeyances of up to 90
days, which should “include both (1) a robust description of the content of a potential future filing
under FPA section 205 and (2) a reasoned and specific explanation of when such a filing is
4 OSC at LaCerte Concurrence, P 5.
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expected to be made.”5 DCRT is evaluating its TO Tariff and recognizes that it likely needs to
make certain tariff amendments to respond to the OSC; however, DCRT needs additional time to
ensure that any potential filing addresses the Commission’s concerns and objectives for large load
interconnection. DCRT therefore respectfully requests an abeyance until November 16, 2026, so
that DCRT can conduct the process described above thoughtfully and thoroughly, yet with “all due
deliberate haste,”6 to promote cost-effective economic growth in DCRT’s footprint. Below, DCRT
explains the process it must complete to prepare this filing and why the abeyance is needed.
Consistent with the OSC’s objectives, DCRT will consult with the CAISO, other TOs, and
relevant stakeholders, such as large load developers, to evaluate potential tariff revisions that
address the OSC’s concerns.7 Moreover, DCRT may need to draft new tariff provisions and
processes, including new pro forma contract(s), and incorporate study and application processes
tailored to large loads interconnecting to the transmission system.8
As a CAISO PTO, DCRT must ensure that its tariff proposal is consistent with and
supportable by the CAISO. The CAISO’s July 20, 2026 Informational Report describes a
stakeholder process running through Board action on October 28, 2026, with CAISO Tariff
amendments to be filed in November 2026.9 An abeyance for DCRT is warranted on the same
schedule. Coordination with other stakeholders, such as other TOs, other California Investor-
Owned Utilities, and other independent, non-load-serving transmission owners, will also likely be
necessary. This means that DCRT may not be able to finalize its large load procedures and tariff
5 OSC at P 35.
6 OSC at Swett Concurrence, P 8.
7 OSC at P 37.
8 OSC at P 56 (identifying the types of tariff revisions that may be necessary).
9 Cal. Independent Sys. Operator Corp., Docket No. EL26-71-000, “California Independent System
Operator Corporation Informational Report,” at 15 (filed July 20, 2026) (“CAISO Informational Report”).
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revisions until the CAISO has completed its process, and DCRT may need to coordinate with other
CAISO stakeholders to finalize its filing.
When developing these tariffs and processes, DCRT will also need to evaluate state-
jurisdictional retail load tariffs, agreements, rates, and processes.10 In addition to CAISO-specific
issues, DCRT must consider the inter-relationship of the CAISO and APS transmission systems
when evaluating large load interconnections.11 DCRT supports the OSC’s concern for speedy
filing of proposed additional or revised tariff provisions related to, among other things, study
processes to service large load,12 as reiterated in two concurrences, but DCRT must ensure that its
coordinated processes and procedures reflect the unique regional characteristics of the CAISO and
APS systems, as recognized in the OSC and in Chairman Swett’s concurrence.13
Clear and consistent provisions between the CAISO, CAISO stakeholders, DCRT, and
likely APS serve regulatory and process certainty, fairness, and efficiency for large loads and
transmission customers alike, and the Commission has stated that it expects the CAISO and the
PTOs to coordinate with each other, as appropriate, in developing their responses to the OSC.14
DCRT will participate in that coordination in good faith, and it expects that much of the resulting
framework can, and should, be common across the CAISO network. At the same time, the
Commission chose to proceed through individualized show cause orders rather than a generic
rulemaking, an approach that, as Chairman Swett explained, allows solutions “tailored to the
10 OSC at P 41 (recognizing that “that resolution of issues related to large load additions will require the
involvement of both federal and state actors, including the Commission, state public utility commissions,
and other state and local entities”).
11 References in this motion to prospective coordination or consultation do not represent the views or
commitments of the CAISO, APS, the Arizona Corporation Commission, or any other entity.
12 OSC at P 35; OSC at Swett Concurrence, P 5; OSC at LaCerte Concurrence, PP 5-6.
13 OSC at P 35; OSC at Swett Concurrence, P 6.
14 OSC at P 37.
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specific, varied circumstances” of each region rather than “a one-size-fits-all rule.”15 A uniform
framework has real value only to the extent it can accommodate the diversity of circumstances
across the CAISO network, including those of non-LSE transmission owners whose facilities cross
retail franchise boundaries. Accordingly, DCRT will work toward consistency between its tariff
provisions and those of the CAISO and other PTOs wherever appropriate, and any section 205
filing will propose provisions tailored to DCRT’s particular circumstances where a uniform
approach does not accommodate them.
Lastly, DCRT has been coordinating within the CAISO stakeholder process relating to its
filing in response to the OSC, and DCRT is aware that certain other California TOs are submitting
their own joint filing. While DCRT reserves the right to join any joint filing by the other California
TOs, DCRT is seeking its own abeyance for a final deadline of November 16, 2026 because of its
unique status as a Transco in CAISO that also crosses state lines.
III.
PROPOSED TO TARIFF REVISIONS
The following subsections describe the content DCRT anticipates proposing in its section
205 filing to address each of the Commission’s preliminary findings. The description provided in
this section is intended to satisfy the OSC’s requirement of a robust description of a potential future
filing; it is not intended to, and does not, prejudge the specific rates, terms, and conditions that
DCRT will propose and support in the section 205 filing itself.
A.
Transmission Service to Eligible Customers on Behalf of Large Loads
The OSC made a preliminary finding that the CAISO and/or TO Tariffs “appear to be
unjust and unreasonable because they lack provisions that address, with sufficient clarity and
consistency, how the CAISO and/or the Participating TOs will timely study . . . the provision of
15 OSC at Swett Concurrence, PP 5-6.
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transmission service to Eligible Customers on behalf of large loads.”16 The OSC invites the
CAISO and/or the TOs to revise their respective tariffs to outline “an application process, study
procedures, and ongoing operational requirements that address the unique characteristics and
challenges of providing transmission service to Eligible Customers on behalf of large loads.”17
DCRT accepts this invitation. It will coordinate with the CAISO and the relevant stakeholders, as
appropriate, and will submit responsive TO Tariff changes addressing these issues in its section
205 filing. DCRT will define “Large Load” when developing potential tariff revisions; however,
it is not clear to DCRT that a 50 MW threshold is appropriate.18
DCRT’s proposed revisions will outline the transmission service application process, study
procedures, and ongoing operational requirements that the OSC invites, as applied to requests for
transmission service from DCRT’s facilities, and will provide for such service in a manner that
preserves the existing westbound delivery capability of Ten West Link and the deliveries it
currently supports. These procedures will contemplate the CAISO’s ability to curtail customers
(if necessary).19 DCRT expects that it will also need to evaluate the scope of affected systems for
CAISO non-adjacent utilities.
As the Commission is aware, in CAISO, the TOs are responsible for interconnecting loads
while the CAISO has operational control of most transmission assets.20 Thus, a high degree of
coordination between TOs and the CAISO is required for many of the tariff revisions or additions
directed by the OSC. To address the concerns that the Commission has identified for transmission
16 OSC at Section P 38.
17 OSC at P 40.
18 OSC at P 57; see also OSC at P 113 (referencing a 50 MW threshold for large co-located loads).
19 OSC at P 63 (addressing the potential need to curtail large loads).
20 OSC at PP 21-27.
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service for large loads, DCRT will need time to coordinate with the CAISO about allocating
responsibility for studying, and for providing, transmission service to Eligible Customers on behalf
of large loads. To draft the necessary tariff amendments and revisions, among other things, the
CAISO, DCRT and other TOs must craft mutually compatible processes so all parties understand
what information should be evaluated to ensure that operational risks of providing transmission
service to Eligible Customers on behalf of large loads are mitigated.
Further, because of this division of responsibility between the CAISO and TOs, DCRT
must also coordinate with the CAISO in determining the information required for large-load
interconnection requests. This is regardless of whether the large load is willing and able to limit
its energy withdrawal under specific system conditions.
DCRT and/or the CAISO will also likely need to tailor the new tariff provisions and study
process concerning large load interconnection to the operational needs of large loads. DCRT must
also align with the CAISO about tariff additions addressing ongoing operational requirements for
transmission customers taking transmission service on behalf of large loads.21 Some provisions
may best be included in the CAISO Tariff while others may best be included in the TO Tariffs.
For example, the OSC identifies the potential need for the CAISO to monitor large loads for
impacts of fast-ramping load that may affect the transmission system too quickly to be captured
by conventional data acquisition systems.22 This may necessitate provisions requiring TOs to
install, and the responsible Eligible Customer to pay for, new equipment to enable such
monitoring. DCRT will also need to discuss with developers what kinds of mechanisms will
successfully deter speculative or duplicative requests for transmission service while allowing
21 OSC at P 37 (recognizing the need for coordination among TOs, the CAISO, and other stakeholders).
22 OSC at P 63.
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commercially viable projects to be promptly interconnected without excessive and unnecessary
network upgrades.23
DCRT also is evaluating procedures for the use of alternative transmission technologies
(“ATTs”) and determining when ATTs should be used over traditional network upgrades.24 Thus,
before drafting pro forma provisions addressing these and other issues identified in the OSC,
DCRT will need time to carefully consider the issues, both internally and in discussion with
external stakeholders, such as the CAISO and large-load developers, whose knowledge and input
are critical. Doing so will require careful engineering and cost-benefit analysis to ensure the
process protects reliability while consistently identifying the best solution for customers in the 60–
90 day timeframe targeted in the OSC.25
B.
Cost Shifting Risk Among Transmission Customers
The OSC states that the CAISO and/or TO Tariffs may be unjust and unreasonable because
of “the apparent lack of (1) transparency regarding the assignment of network upgrades, and their
associated costs, that are needed to provide transmission service to Eligible Customers on behalf
of large loads; and (2) a pro forma cost recovery agreement between CAISO, the relevant
transmission owner, and the Eligible Customer taking transmission service on behalf of large loads
that help ensure that Eligible Customers bear the risk and are ultimately responsible for costs
incurred to provide transmission service, including the cost of Network Upgrades.”26 DCRT will
also address these cost-shifting concerns with proposed TO Tariff changes in its section 205 filing.
23 OSC at P 55.
24 OSC at PP 60-61.
25 OSC at P 62.
26 OSC at P 65.
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Those revisions will address the transparency of network upgrade cost information and will
provide a just and reasonable pro forma cost recovery agreement.
With respect to transparency, DCRT, the CAISO, and other TOs will need to collaborate
and assign responsibilities to enable the robust, accurate, and systematic provision of data on the
CAISO’s website in a single location, and in an easily accessible format that is searchable and
allows users to filter the data, regarding the cost for network upgrades needed to provide
transmission service to Eligible Customers on behalf of large loads, as noted in the OSC.27
The OSC has also identified an issue with the lack of a pro forma cost recovery agreement
between the CAISO, the relevant TO, and the Eligible Customer taking transmission service on
behalf of a large load, and invites tariff revisions to establish one.28 Such an agreement, by
definition, requires alignment between the CAISO, TOs, and potentially other stakeholders both
on the terms of the agreement and on whether the agreement needs to be included in one or both
sets of tariffs.
As stated above, DCRT is a single-asset Transco that crosses state lines; it must also
consider federal-state jurisdictional cost-allocation issues when interconnecting large loads.
DCRT must resolve the state-level issue of which entity will have the right to construct assets
interconnecting with DCRT’s line when addressing required network upgrades and align with both
California and Arizona regulatory regimes. DCRT’s tariff provisions will address (and where
appropriate, govern) the interface between its TO Tariff and the state-jurisdictional retail regimes
of the franchise territories that its facility crosses, in a manner that preserves the retail franchises
27 OSC at PP 66, 70.
28 OSC at PP 34, 65.
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and retail regulatory authority of the affected states. Drafting just and reasonable tariff provisions
addressing these issues requires time to carefully analyze and balance all of these concerns.
C.
Co-Location Arrangements; Flexible Transmission Services; Electrically
Proximate Large Load and Co-Located Load
With respect to co-located loads, flexible loads, and large loads that are electrically
proximate to new generation, the Commission has identified the following issues with respect to
the CAISO Tariff, as opposed to the TO Tariffs. First, the Commission noted that the CAISO
Tariff appears to be unjust and unreasonable without “clear and consistent provisions addressing
the rates, terms, and conditions that apply to co-location arrangements and for transmission
services that reflect an Eligible Customer taking transmission service on behalf of Eligible Load
that is willing and able to limit its energy withdrawals from the transmission system under certain
conditions.”29 Second, the Commission found that the CAISO Tariff appears unjust and
unreasonable because it does not include “transmission services that reflect Eligible Customers
taking transmission service on behalf of flexible large loads that are willing and able to limit their
use of the transmission system under certain conditions.”30 Third, the Commission found that the
CAISO Tariff appears to be unjust and unreasonable because it does not contain provisions
“allowing an interconnection customer to seek the generator interconnection service(s) that reflects
the operational dynamics of serving either: (1) electrically proximate large load or; (2) a co-located
load . . . that has a high peak load.”31
29 OSC at P 85.
30 OSC at P 104.
31 OSC at P 113.
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While these three concerns are directed at the CAISO Tariff, they likely will have
implications for the PTOs.32 As appropriate, DCRT will address these issues in its tariff
revisions.33 For example, the CAISO’s tariff revisions regarding curtailment would require
conforming changes to a TO Tariff. The CAISO’s revisions on BTMG may affect a TO’s
associated interconnection processes in its tariff. DCRT notes that it welcomes BTMG as an
avenue that can improve interconnection times by reducing the impact of a new co-located load
on the grid. Further, DCRT will need to coordinate with the CAISO concerning electrically
proximate large load or a co-located load that has a high peak load and evaluate whether the
CAISO’s definitions of proximate and high-peak loads are acceptable to DCRT.
DCRT understands that the CAISO plans to file its proposed tariff amendments in
November 2026.34 DCRT’s TO Tariff will need to accommodate study processes for Eligible
Customers taking any new flexible, co-located, or proximate transmission services the CAISO
Tariff establishes. DCRT cannot create new application processes and study processes for these
new transmission services without knowing the characteristics of those services. The roles,
responsibilities, and processes to interconnect large loads taking new services will also depend on
the revisions to existing services under the CAISO Tariff, such as generator interconnection and
transmission planning.
Here too, the division of responsibility, where the CAISO currently studies generation
interconnection while the TOs study load interconnection, requires careful collaboration.
Designing a new process for the interconnection of co-located load will therefore require allocation
32 OSC at P 86.
33 DCRT also anticipates addressing or explaining why the CAISO Tariff rather than the TO Tariff is the
proper vehicle for, billing-determinant provisions concerning load with Behind-The-Meter Generation
(“BTMG”).
34 CAISO Informational Report at p. 15.
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of responsibilities between the CAISO and TOs, especially when considering the possibility of
joint studies as suggested by Commissioner Rosner.35 The same applies when determining criteria
for which loads may be jointly studied with electrically proximate generation and how to do so;
and in determining clear and consistent provisions for the rates, terms, and conditions of service
that apply to interconnection customers serving co-located load after they are interconnected.
Based on the CAISO’s stakeholder process timeline, revisions to the CAISO Tariff will
likely not be finalized until close to the requested November 16 filing deadline if the CAISO is
granted an abeyance. Under the timeline in the CAISO Informational Report, the CAISO Board
is scheduled to act on October 28, 2026, with CAISO Tariff revisions filed thereafter in November
2026.36 DCRT’s proposed November 16, 2026 filing will address each of the OSC’s directives
that implicates DCRT’s TO Tariff, based on the CAISO proposal then before the Commission. If
the Commission’s ultimate action on the CAISO’s filing requires conforming changes to DCRT’s
TO Tariff, DCRT will propose them promptly in the ordinary course under FPA section 205; no
further extension of the abeyance is requested for that purpose.
D.
Briefing Questions
The Commission also identifies several issues for further briefing.
37 DCRT requests that
the deadline to respond to the briefing questions also be tolled for 90 days.
38 DCRT so requests
because the briefing questions are inextricably linked with the issues to be addressed in DCRT’s
forthcoming section 205 filing.
35 OSC at Rosner Concurrence, PP 11-13.
36 CAISO Informational Report at p. 15.
37 OSC at Section IV.
38 See OSC at P 35 (allowing a Participating Transmission Owner to request the Commission to “hold, for
up to 90 days, all or certain aspects of this FPA section 206 proceeding in abeyance”).
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IV.
CONCLUSION
DCRT respectfully requests that the Commission grant this Motion for Abeyance and
extend DCRT’s deadline to respond in full to the OSC to November 16, 2026, for the reasons
described above.
Respectfully submitted,
Joseph C. Hall
Joseph C. Hall
Heather Harrison
Shenghao Wang
Kelly A. Cuthbertson
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP
700 Sixth Street, NW, Ste. 700
Washington, DC 20001
Tel: (202) 383-0915
joehall@eversheds-sutherland.com
heatherharrison@eversheds-sutherland.com
shenghaowang@eversheds-sutherland.com
kellycuthbertson@eversheds-sutherland.com
Attorneys for DCR Transmission, L.L.C.
Dated: August 3, 2026PDF page 16
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I have this day served the foregoing document upon each person
designated on the official service list compiled by the Secretary in this proceeding.
Dated at Washington, D.C., this 3rd day of August 2026.
Kelly A. Cuthbertson
Kelly A. Cuthbertson
Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP
700 Sixth Street, NW, Ste. 700
Washington, DC 20001
Phone: (202) 383-0246
Email: kellycuthbertson@eversheds-sutherland.com