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Inflation Reduction Act
New Congress Expected to Meet Pent Up Demand for Energy Oversight
Pent up demand for oversight on both sides of the political aisle will drive a trend for renewed Congressional oversight in the upcoming term in 2011, notably in the energy and environmental sectors. In a recent video interview, Scott Segal...
FERC Tightens Credit Practices in Organized Markets
A final rule that tightens and standardizes credits practices for organized wholesale electricity markets "” independent system operators (ISO) and regional transmission organizations (RTO) "” was issued by FERC October 21. To comply with the credit practices prescribed in the...
A Divided CFTC Flexes Muscles With $12 Million ConAgra Civil Penalty
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued an order August 16 approving a settlement resolving allegations that ConAgra Trade Group, Inc. caused a non-bona fide price to be reported for a NYMEX spot month crude oil futures contract in violation of...
DC Circuit Affirms FERC On Maintaining Price Caps On Gas Pipeline Capacity Sales
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has upheld FERC's decision to remove price ceilings on short term (one year or less) capacity releases by shippers on natural gas pipelines, while maintaining price ceilings on capacity sales by...
Apex Oil: Environmental Cleanup Liability Survives Bankruptcy
In U.S. v. Apex Oil , a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit ruled 3-0 that EPA's cleanup injunction against the corporate successor to a chemical company was not discharged in Chapter 11 because the injunction does not create a...
Congress Proposes New Enforcement Authority for FERC
The American Clean Energy And Security Act of 2009 ("ACES"), or H.R. 2454, is a comprehensive energy bill that was introduced on May 15, 2009. ACES contains new enforcement provisions that would significantly increase the authority of the Federal Energy...
Fate of Ocean Power Projects Requires FERC and Interior Cooperation
Jurisdictional jockeying between FERC and the Department of Interior threatens development of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) ocean power projects. The issue calls out for agency cooperation and possibly an interagency agreement similar to that between FERC and the U.S. Forest...
Boucher-Dingell Bill Would Have FERC Run Cap-and-Trade Carbon Market
If the "discussion draft" carbon cap-and-trade bill recently released by Congressmen John Dingell (D-MI) and Rick Boucher (D-VA) becomes law, then FERC would run the carbon market. Within FERC, the bill would create a new Office of Carbon Market Oversight...
Employee Function Replaces Corporate Separation as Cornerstone of FERC's New Standards of Conduct
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission adopted revised Standards of Conduct (Standards of Conduct) for Transmission Providers "• both natural gas pipelines and electric transmission systems "• in its October 16 Order No. 717. The single largest change from earlier SC...
FERC Issues Policy Statement on Compliance
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) revised its Policy Statement on Compliance October 16. The revision posits four factors FERC will take into account when considering whether to reduce or eliminate civil penalties for violations: (1) The role of senior...
Energy Beneficiaries of Economic Stimulus Package
The Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 embedded in the economic stimulus legislation (H.R. 1424) that President Bush signed into law on October 3, 2008, provides nearly $17 billion in various tax credits to promote clean power generation technologies...
GAO Report Urges FERC to Be More Specific on Costs, Benefits of RTO Membership
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report to Congress on September 26 urging FERC to take additional steps to analyze the benefits and performance of the Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) that manage regional transmission grids. FERC's development of RTOs...
Demand "Very Strong" in Nation's First Carbon Allowance Auction
Despite the market turmoil and liquidity concerns on Wall Street in recent weeks, the nation's first government-run auction of carbon dioxide emissions allowances met with "very strong demand," according to the coalition of ten states, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiate...
PJM's RPM Dodges Buyers' Bullets However Well Aimed
FERC stopped a rebellion of PJM Interconnection power buyers in a September 19 order that rejected their complaint against PJM's reliability pricing model (RPM) capacity obligation and auction. A motley crew of buyers and their representatives "” coops, state commissions...
FERC Seeks Industry Input on Uniform Definition of "Affiliate"
Seeking to clear up an apparent inconsistency in the definition of an "affiliate" in its regulations, on August 29 FERC issued an order asking for the industry's input on a uniform definition of "affiliate" for purposes of the agency'smarket-based rate...