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Inflation Reduction Act
FERC Improves Treatment of Passive Tax Equity for Transaction Approvals
On October 4, 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued an order clarifying that it will not treat certain tax equity interests in public utilities or public utility holding companies as voting securities for purposes of transaction approval requirements...
The Bid Submission Process - Some Practical Tips
This overview provides some practical tips on managing the process of submitting a competitive bid tender as well as some suggestions to avoid common pitfalls. Also included are some best practices that will help make a complex and demanding task easier.
DOE Proposes FERC Action to Preserve and Compensate Baseload Generation Resources
Pursuant to its authority under Section 403 of the Department of Energy Organization Act, on September 29, 2017, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) directing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) to take prompt...
Statute of Limitations Bars FERC Penalty in Preeminent Market Manipulation Case
On Friday, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California handed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) a significant defeat by concluding that FERC’s action against a former trader of Barclays Bank PLC accused of participating...
A Call to Focus on Strengthening Grid Resilience and Reliability: DOE Staff Report Offers Timely Insights on Fundamental Market Changes
The U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) recently released its highly-anticipated Staff Report to the Secretary on Electricity Markets and Reliability . The report weighs heavily on the themes of focusing on grid resilience and reliability in light of recent fundamental...
U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report - August 2017
The Bracewell U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report is a monthly report that provides summaries of certain disciplinary notices by U.S. exchanges during the prior month. The report has a particular focus on notices potentially relevant to energy commodities and...
New Commission Approves City Power Manipulation Settlement
Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order approving a settlement agreement between FERC’s Office of Enforcement and City Power Marketing, LLC, and its owner, K. Stephen Tsingas (together, City Power). The order resolves the Commission’s claims that...
USFWS Postpones Endangered Species Listing Determination for Texas Hornshell Mussel
On August 10, 2017, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or Service) issued a Federal Register notice indicating its intent to delay by six months its determination whether to list the Texas hornshell mussel as an endangered species...
U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report - July 2017
NYMEX NYMEX 15-0305-BC Position Limits Violation of Rule 562 – Position Limit Violations On August 9, 2016, a Probable Cause Committee (“PCC”) panel charged a non-member entity with violating NYMEX Rule 562, based on allegations that on November 23, 2015...
Financial Transmission Rights Guidelines – Mexico
On July 28, 2017, the Mexican Ministry of Energy (Secretaria de Energia or SENER) published the final guidelines for the Financial Transmission Rights (“FTR”) Auctions (the “Guidelines”), which will govern the auction process for Mexico’s newly created FTR market. The...
A Path Begins to Emerge: Industry Responses to FERC Proposals Respecting State Policies and Eastern Wholesale Markets
A Path Begins to Emerge: Industry Responses to FERC Proposals Respecting State Policies and Eastern Wholesale Markets On May 1-2, 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) held a two day conference focused on the interplay between state policy goals...
U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report - June 2017
NYMEX NYMEX 16-0498-BC Position Limit Violation of Rule 562 – Position Limit Violations Pursuant to a settlement offer, a Business Conduct Committee panel (“BCC Panel”) found that on July 27, 2016, a non-member entity held a futures equivalent long position...
FERC Technical Conference: Developments in Natural Gas Index Liquidity and Transparency
On Thursday, June 29, 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) held a technical conference on the liquidity and transparency of natural gas price indices. The conference consisted of three discussion panels with panelists from various price...
EPA Proposes Additional Two-Year Stay of Parts of the Methane Rule
On June 13, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a pre-publication proposed rule that would grant an additional two-year stay to the effectiveness of certain portions of the 2016 rule establishing methane emissions standards for the oil and...
U.S. Futures Exchanges Disciplinary Actions Report - May 2017
NYMEX NYMEX 16-0372-BC Misc. Violation of Rule 432.Q, 432.W – General Offenses Pursuant to a settlement offer, a panel found that from July 2015 through March 2016, a non-member trader was concomitantly operating market-making and market-taking automated trading systems during...