Earlier this month members of Congress jointly introduced the “Energy Consumer Protection Act of 2023,” with the intention of expanding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) ability to address energy market...more
Following weeks of anticipation, US Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) released the text of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2022, his permitting reform legislation, on September 21, 2022. As part of an agreement to win...more
Public policy concerns associated with contracts impacted by energy industry bankruptcies filed in the Fifth Circuit will be resolved in bankruptcy court mini-trials instead of FERC proceedings. Parties entering energy...more
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
In FERC v. FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (In re FirstEnergy Solutions Corp), Case No. 18-3787 (6th Cir. Dec. 12, 2019), the Sixth Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy court’s jurisdiction over the rejection of certain power purchase...more
On December 12, 2019, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a highly anticipated ruling in the FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. bankruptcy case, regarding the efforts of FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FirstEnergy or...more
In In re FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., 2019 WL 6767004 (6th Cir. Ct. App.), the United States Court of Appeals affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded to the bankruptcy court for further consideration, the...more
Periods of volatility in energy prices cause spikes in energy companies’ bankruptcies. These bankruptcies lead to debtors’ attempts to reject power purchase agreements (“PPAs”). These attempts ignite the unresolved legal...more
On December 12, 2019, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that the bankruptcy court in the bankruptcy proceedings of FirstEnergy Solutions Corp. (FES) has jurisdiction to decide whether...more
We have seen an increase in energy companies filing for bankruptcy, and more may be on the horizon. This is a great time to review and discuss an interesting ruling in the FirstEnergy case regarding the intersection of...more
In June, the General Counsel of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) submitted comments to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) opposing the CFTC’s...more
The proposal could create uncertainty for market participants and raise jurisdictional questions about which regulator should police power markets....more
In recent years, Maryland attempted to subsidize new power plants by guaranteeing prices for generating capacity at wholesale auctions administered by PJM Interconnection L.L.C. (PJM). Tuesday, the Supreme Court unanimously...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued decisions in two cases on April 19, 2016: Hughes v. Talen Energy Marketing, LLC, No. 14-614: Congress, though the Federal Power Act (“FPA”), 16 U.S.C. §791a et seq., vested...more
Decision brings more clarity to jurisdictional boundaries between state public utility regulatory commissions and FERC set forth by the Federal Power Act. On January 25, the US Supreme Court, in a 6-2 decision, ruled in...more
The Supreme Court today allowed the states a greater role in regulating the energy sector. In ONEOK, the Court held that states can regulate activities that affect both wholesale and retail transactions to the extent that the...more
Many issues facing FERC in 2014 have carried over to 2015. Topping the list is the uncertain future of demand response in wholesale electricity markets. Demand response’s future hinges on decisions at FERC, in the federal...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