On January 7, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision—Citizens Action Coalition of Indiana, Inc. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 125 F.4th 229 (2025) ("Citizens Action")—affirming...more
3/26/2025
/ Appeals ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Claims ,
Environmental Liability ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Jurisdiction ,
Natural Gas ,
NEPA ,
Pipelines ,
Renewable Energy
New ESG regulations are expected to have a significant impact on disclosure and governance obligations for EU and non-EU companies alike, including extensive sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements on...more
12/11/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Action Plan ,
Climate Change ,
Coal Mines ,
Energy Policy ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hague Convention ,
Infrastructure ,
Pollution Control ,
Shell Oil
In a series of recent orders, the D.C. Circuit has renewed its prodding of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("Commission" or "FERC") to strengthen its environmental reviews of proposed pipeline projects. On July 30,...more
On July 22, 2024, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (I-WV) and John Barrasso (R-WY) released a long-awaited energy permitting reform bill, which aims to accelerate the permitting process for critical energy, mineral, and related...more
7/26/2024
/ Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Judicial Review ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Power Plants ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Statute of Limitations
There are three offshore wind farms operational in the United States today: the Block Island Wind Farm, which commenced operation in 2016; the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project, which became operational in 2020; and most...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("Commission" or "FERC"), sustaining a previous order, holds that the appointment of a non-independent director by an investor to a utility's board creates a per se affiliate...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("Commission" or "FERC") holds that appointing an investor representative to a Public Utility Board results in an affiliate relationship independently of the amount of voting stock...more
The Fifth Circuit upheld a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") determination that an energy company unlawfully manipulated the natural gas market but rejected FERC's interpretation of its jurisdiction as overbroad....more
On July 28, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the "Commission" or "FERC") proposed a new rule which would significantly expand the existing "duty of candor" rule (found at 18 C.F.R. 35.41(b)) to apply to any...more
On June 24, 2022, FERC issued orders approving settlement agreements resolving two investigations. The first involves whether a renewable generation developer, sPower Development Company, violated PJM Interconnection LLC's...more
7/6/2022
/ Energy Projects ,
Enforcement Guidance ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Power Grid ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewable Energy ,
Solar Energy ,
Tariffs
On June 9, 2022, the Biden administration released new standards for its goal of building 500,000 electric vehicle ("EV") charging stations nationwide by 2030.
The U.S. Departments of Transportation ("DOT") and Energy...more
6/16/2022
/ Automotive Industry ,
Biden Administration ,
Charging Stations ,
Department of Transportation (DOT) ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Infrastructure ,
Innovative Technology ,
Motor Vehicles ,
NPRM ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zero-Emission Vehicles
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's ("FERC") Office of Electric Reliability and Enforcement and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation ("NERC") staff presented a series of findings and preliminary...more
9/30/2021
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Electric Generation Suppliers ,
Electricity ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
MISO ,
Natural Disasters ,
Natural Gas ,
NERC ,
Power Grid ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Power Outages ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Severe Weather ,
Supply Chain
On August 24, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") approved new cold weather electric reliability standards proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation ("NERC"). The standards will apply...more
9/2/2021
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Electric Generation Suppliers ,
Electricity ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Natural Disasters ,
NERC ,
Power Grid ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Severe Weather ,
Supply Chain
The Road Toward Better Infrastructure -
On August 1, 2021, the Senate proposed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill including $550 billion in new spending to improve the country's...more
8/3/2021
/ Airports ,
Biden Administration ,
Bridges ,
Broadband ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Federal Funding ,
Infrastructure ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Power Infrastructure ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Transportation ,
Roads ,
Water
FERC's recent "order to show cause" against an energy trading firm and its owners for an alleged manipulative energy trading scheme in the nation's largest power market follows Chairman Glick's call for renewed...more
On March 22, 2021, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued an order authorizing Northern Natural Gas Company ("Northern") to abandon-in-place a segment of its natural gas pipeline running from Nebraska...more
Climate Change Regulatory Issues & Updates -
Interim Update on Biden Administration Climate Change Initiatives -
The last edition of the Climate Report discussed President Biden's signing, on his first day in office,...more
The Situation: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued a proposed policy statement that may signal a significant change to FERC's policy on waivers related to remedial relief.
The Impact: While it is...more
The Decision: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued Opinion No. 569-A, refining the methodology it established in Opinion No. 569 for setting the return on equity ("ROE") that electric utilities earn on...more
The Decision: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's ("FERC") Opinion No. 569 establishes new methodologies under Federal Power Act ("FPA") Section 206 for (i) determining whether existing electric utility transmission...more
The Situation: The United Airlines, Inc. v. FERC decision and the reduction of corporate income tax rate in the Tax Cut and Jobs Act significantly lowered the tax costs able to be included in the jurisdictional rates of...more
On April 14, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued a decision that could cause short-term uncertainty for electric utilities, whose rates for transmission service, including the allowed rate of return,...more