On May 25th, the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources will hold hearings on President Trump's nominations to fill two commissioner vacancies on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). If confirmed, the...more
On February 7 and March 7, 2017, we wrote about how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is operating without a legal quorum of three members and how the lack of a quorum might affect the validity of FERC staff...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) February 3, 2017 "delegation order" that was issued on the last day it had a quorum was the topic of a recent alert. The order, as we noted, aimed to preserve and expand the...more
At the close of business on Friday, February 3, 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) lost its legal quorum of three members when its former Chair, Norman Bay, resigned his post as a FERC Commissioner. Earlier...more
Two Federal District Court Opinions Highlight Differences Between Natural Gas Act and Federal Power Act Investigations -
Two weeks ago, a federal judge in Texas rejected arguments that targets of FERC investigations...more
May the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) initiate an enforcement investigation against a company for manipulating natural gas markets, order the company to show cause why it shouldn’t be fined and then decide the...more
Several months ago, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) order overriding contracts between the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and incumbent utilities...more
Last year, responding to a petition for declaratory order by a rural electric distribution cooperative (Delta-Montrose), FERC declared that, notwithstanding provisions in Delta-Montrose's agreement to purchase 95 percent of...more
With its decision on Tuesday, April 20 in Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing, the Supreme Court issued its second significant holding of the year on the reach of federal authority over interstate wholesale sales markets. The...more
Does FERC have authority to override contracts between a regional transmission organization (RTO) and incumbent utilities giving the latter rights of first refusal (ROFR) to build new regional transmission facilities? It...more
In a 2-1 decision with potentially broad ramifications for power markets, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has overturned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s rule requiring ISO and RTOs to pay electricity...more