President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order titled Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid, which aims to bolster electric grid reliability and address the national energy...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a class action lawsuit claiming a California utility was liable for blackouts that were allegedly caused by inadequate electric system maintenance....more
President Joseph Biden signed the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the Act) on November 15, 2021, which allocates $550 billion in new spending over the next five years to improve US infrastructure,...more
11/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Charging Stations ,
Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Cybersecurity ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Hydropower ,
Infrastructure ,
Nuclear Power ,
Popular ,
Power Grid ,
Renewable Energy
FERC announced on February 22 that it will open a new proceeding to examine the threats of climate change and extreme weather to electric reliability. The investigation will assess how grid operators prepare for and respond...more
FERC issued a pair of orders terminating, or upholding the termination of, proceedings designed to evaluate the resiliency of the electric grid on February 18. Both proceedings arose from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s)...more
After severe winter weather forced Texas into experiencing power outages and rolling blackouts, there will likely be resulting federal and state investigations into the outages, federal investigations into commodity and...more
2/18/2021
/ CFTC ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Futures ,
Government Investigations ,
Natural Gas ,
NERC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Power Grid ,
Reliability Standards ,
Severe Weather ,
Storm Damage
The US Congress has adopted the first extensive update to US federal energy policies in over a decade in the Energy Act of 2020 (Energy Act), which President Donald Trump signed into law on December 27 as part of the...more
12/30/2020
/ Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Infrastructure ,
New Legislation ,
Nuclear Power ,
Popular ,
Power Grid ,
Renewable Energy ,
Tax Credits
At its December open meeting, FERC proposed to establish rules for incentive-based rate treatments for voluntary cybersecurity investments by a public utility. If approved, the regulations would provide incentives for...more
At its June 18 open meeting, FERC issued a notice of inquiry seeking public input on cybersecurity-related enhancements to the Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) reliability standards. In light of the constantly...more
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on May 1 declaring that the use of bulk-power system equipment supplied by companies controlled by certain foreign nations poses an extraordinary threat to the US power grid....more
FERC's order refuses to adopt cost-of-service rates for generation with secure on-site fuel supply in organized markets, but leaves open the possibility of future FERC action to address system "resiliency" concerns identified...more
Major revisions to the existing cybersecurity requirements for electric utilities will focus on greater protections for the most critical assets but will also ensure that all assets receive some level of protection....more