On February 18, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued two interconnected policy statements (the “Policy Statements”) regarding its review and certification of interstate natural...more
Beginning on February 13, 2021, something unprecedented happened in the state of Texas—a winter storm caused temperatures to dip well-below freezing. This event, dubbed the “Black Swan Winter Event,” caused Texas to...more
Part One -
As the 2020 election nears, the Democratic campaign has begun to talk policy specifics regarding energy and climate change. Although the Trump administration undertook to dismantle many Obama-era policies and...more
9/29/2020
/ Carbon Pricing ,
Clean Energy ,
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) ,
Electricity ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
Energy Storage ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FERC ,
Joe Biden ,
Political Campaigns ,
Political Candidates ,
Power Grid ,
Presidential Elections ,
PURPA ,
Renewable Energy ,
Supply Chain ,
Transmission Grid ,
Trump Administration ,
Wholesale
On August 5, 2020, members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee questioned witnesses from the power industry and the federal government about the readiness of the United States bulk-power system (BPS) for a...more
8/18/2020
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Electricity ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
National Security ,
Natural Resources ,
Popular ,
Power Grid ,
Supply Chain ,
Trump Administration ,
Utilities Sector
On July 16, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) dismissed the petition for declaratory order (“Petition”) filed by the New England Ratepayers Association (NERA) asking FERC to assert...more
- On July 8, 2020, the Department of Energy (DOE) published a Request for Information (RFI) concerning Executive Order 13920, “Securing the United States Bulk-Power System” (the “E.O.”). The E.O. authorizes the DOE to block...more
7/13/2020
/ Comment Period ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electricity ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Executive Orders ,
Foreign Adversaries ,
Request For Information ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Supply Chain
On September 27, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Second Circuit) affirmed a district court’s finding that New York’s Zero Emissions Credit (ZEC) program is not preempted by federal law. The Second...more
10/23/2018
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Dormant Commerce Clause ,
Electricity ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Power Act ,
Interstate Commerce ,
Nuclear Power ,
Out-of-State Companies ,
Power Plants ,
Preemption ,
Standing ,
States Rights ,
Subsidies ,
Utilities Sector ,
Wholesale ,
Zero Emission Credits
In a surprisingly terse opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (Seventh Circuit) recently affirmed a district court’s finding that Illinois’ Zero Emissions Credit (ZEC) program is not preempted by federal...more
9/21/2018
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Dormant Commerce Clause ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Power Act ,
FERC ,
Nuclear Power ,
Preemption ,
Renewable Energy ,
States Rights ,
Utilities Sector ,
Wholesale ,
Zero Emission Credits
On May 17, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) granted in part and denied in part a request by Zeeland Farm Services, Inc. (“Zeeland”) for a waiver of FERC’s regulations requiring small...more
In September 2017, we reported on a Court of Appeals of North Carolina decision holding that entities installing solar panels on customer rooftops are “public utilities” under state law, at least if they retain ownership of...more
Nearly a year after summoning stakeholders to discuss whether—and if so, how—the wholesale power markets should accommodate state policy goals, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) has taken a...more
On August 23, 2017, the Department of Energy (DOE) released its Staff Report assessing the reliability and resilience of the electric grid. The highly anticipated report was commissioned in April 2017 by Secretary of Energy...more
9/7/2017
/ Coal ,
Department of Energy (DOE) ,
Electricity ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Sector ,
FERC ,
Information Reports ,
Nuclear Power ,
Power Grid ,
Renewable Energy ,
Secretary of Energy ,
Wholesale
On March 13, Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) introduced the Ratepayer Fairness Act (RFA). The RFA would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to require that state public utility regulatory authorities and...more
On September 7, 2016, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing titled “Federal Power Act: Historical Perspectives,” exploring the development and restructuring of the wholesale energy markets over the past...more
On August 18, 2016, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) presented aproposal to its stakeholders outlining a possible mechanism for mitigating the potential impact on capacity prices in the PJM market of generation units...more
On June 24, 2016, two complaints were filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“Commission or FERC”) that highlight the continued tension between state policy initiatives and the mandatory centralized capacity...more
6/30/2016
/ Capacity Market ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Sector ,
Federal Power Act ,
FERC ,
ISO-NE ,
ISOs ,
NYISO ,
PJM ,
Preemption ,
RTO ,
Utilities Sector
As we previously reported, the Senate recently passed the Energy Policy Modernization Act (Act), which promotes renewable energy, improves the energy efficiency of buildings and directs investments towards the research and...more
On July 22, 2015, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power unanimously passed a diverse energy bill designed to expedite Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) natural gas pipeline reviews,...more
On April 16, 2015, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order No. 809, its Final Rule regarding the coordination of scheduling between interstate natural gas pipelines and electric public utilities. FERC...more
On May 23, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated in its entirety FERC’s controversial rule governing demand response resources in wholesale energy markets, known as “Order 745.”1 The majority...more
The security of the electric grid, both cyber- and physical, recently has received much public attention due to publicity surrounding a sniper attack on a California substation (see our blog post on grid security here). But...more
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank” or the “Act”) authorizes the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) to comprehensively regulate energy trading activities. Dodd-Frank is...more
1/3/2014
/ CFTC ,
Compliance ,
Default ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Eligible Contract Participant ,
Energy Sector ,
Major Swap Participants ,
Position Limits ,
Swap Dealers ,
Swaps ,
Transparency
On October 1, 2013, we reported here that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued orders on August 29, 2013, assessing civil penalties against, and requiring disgorgement of profits by, Lincoln Paper and...more