On March 19, 2026, in Opinion No. 594, FERC issued a long-awaited decision in litigation about the base Return on Equity (ROE) to be earned by the New England Transmission Owners (NETOs). Previous iterations of the Commission had failed to address the 2017 remand from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) in Emera Maine v. FERC. FERC set the NETOs’ ROE at 9.57%. In addition to applying that new ROE going forward, FERC backdated the new rate to October 16, 2014, and ordered the NETOs to issue refunds with interest to implement that directive. FERC separately required refunds for the 15-month refund period from October 1, 2011, through December 31, 2012. FERC’s authority to backdate new rates under section 206 has been challenged in other cases recently.

On March 19, 2026, FERC approved Southwest Power Pool, Inc.’s (SPP) System Support Resource (SSR) program to allow SPP, under specified conditions, to keep certain generating units that plan to retire temporarily online when they are needed to maintain reliability of the bulk electric system in the SPP region.  In doing so, FERC found that SPP’s proposal appropriately balanced the need to maintain reliability with generator owners’ ability to implement their business plans.

On March 19, 2026, FERC approved Southwest Power Pool, Inc.’s (SPP) proposal to establish a Consolidated Planning Process (CPP) framework to streamline its regional transmission planning and generator interconnection process. FERC determined that SPP’s CPP framework complies with the regional transmission planning and cost allocation requirements of Order Nos. 890…

Host Bill Derasmo is joined by Chris McKissack, CEO of Fullmark Energy, to unpack the rise of standalone storage and the complexities of energy storage projects. From AI data centers to grid reliability, McKissack explains how batteries are quietly running the show. Hit play and get charged up on how storage is reshaping today’s power markets.

On March 2, 2026, U.S. Senators Dave McCormick (R‑PA) and Peter Welch (D‑VT) introduced the Reconductoring Existing Wires for Infrastructure Reliability and Expansion (REWIRE) Act of 2026, a bipartisan bill that would modify federal permitting rules and address upgrades to the existing U.S. electric transmission system. The legislation proposes, among other things, to create a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) categorical exclusion for certain grid capacity projects in existing rights-of-way, direct FERC to revise its rules on return on equity for advanced transmission conductors, authorize additional uses of the Department of Energy (DOE) State Energy Program funds, and establish new DOE programs for grid modeling and technical assistance.

On February 27, 2026, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) filed revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff) to establish an Expedited Interconnection Track process for Generating Facilities (EIT Process). According to the filing, the proposed EIT Process would enable PJM to consider up to 10 expedited interconnection requests per calendar year for large new or uprated Capacity Resources. PJM requested an effective date of July 31, 2026, for the tariff revisions implementing the proposed EIT Process and requested an order from FERC by May 28, 2026.

On February 19, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would expand an existing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) categorical exclusion to cover certain terminations and revocations of hydropower licenses and exemptions. The proposal would allow FERC to rely on a categorical exclusion, rather than preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), for license and exemption terminations or revocations that involve only minor or no ground-disturbing activity and minor or no changes in reservoir conditions and downstream flows.

On February 10, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit) upheld FERC’s order accepting revisions to the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff) to prohibit Energy Efficiency Resources (EERs) from participating in PJM’s capacity market auctions starting with the 2026/2027 Delivery Year auction. The court held that FERC’s acceptance of PJM’s proposal to sunset EERs’ participation in capacity auctions did not run afoul of the filed-rate doctrine, nor was it arbitrary and capricious.

On February 19, 2026, FERC dismissed a complaint filed by Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) against Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC (Transco) asserting that BGE had a contractual right to challenge its negotiated rate with Transco pursuant to section 5 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA). FERC held that BGE contractually waived its NGA section 5 rights with respect to its negotiated rate, and BGE therefore was required to pay the negotiated rate.