On September 24, 2026, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced the 31 transmission projects it plans to fund through the Speed to Power through Accelerated Reconductoring and Other Key Advanced Transmission Technology Upgrades (“SPARK”) program. The projects will receive $5.25 billion in total, consisting of $1.9 billion in federal…

On September 24, 2026, FERC denied a complaint filed by Oklo, Inc. (Oklo) against PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) alleging that PJM unlawfully administered the interconnection process to Oklo’s 750-megawatt project (Project) and unjustifiably withdrew the Project from Cycle 01.  In denying the complaint, FERC found that Oklo failed to meet its burden under Federal Power Act (FPA) section 206 by failing to show that PJM violated its Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff).

Oklo submitted the Project’s data, signed agreement, and deposit information to PJM for Cycle 01 on April 27, 2026. PJM issued its deficiency notice on May 15, 2026, identifying six deficiencies. Oklo asserted that it timely cured the six deficiencies identified in the notice, and then on June 24, 2026, PJM identified five additional, potential deficiencies, including failure to re-submit a dynamic modeling development guidelines (DMDG) report and checklist when Oklo submitted its cure to the May 15 Deficiency Notice. On August 3, 2026, PJM then withdrew the Project from Cycle 01. On August 4, 2026, Oklo stated that PJM issued a Withdrawal Notice, explaining that the Project was deficient.

On September 29, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) accepted PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (“PJM”) Reliability Backstop Procurement proposal (“RBP Proposal”), suspending the proposal for five months and establishing a paper hearing on three elements of the RBP Proposal: (1) cost allocation; (2) Transmission Owner (“TO”) exit provisions; and (3) Load-Serving Entity (“LSE”) collateral requirements. FERC also established a Federal Power Act (“FPA”) section 206 proceeding in anticipation of any changes to the RBP Proposal that may result from the paper hearing. The order, however, encourages PJM to bypass the paper hearing process by submitting a new FPA section 205 proposal that addresses the concerns described in FERC’s order.

On September 10, 2026, FERC approved a new version of a Reliability Standard proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), Reliability Standard CIP-014-4 (CIP-014-4) (Physical Security). The original version, CIP-014-1, was approved by Order No. 802 in November 2014. The stated purpose of the currently effective version of the standard is to “identify and protect Transmission stations and Transmission substations (transmission facilities), and their associated primary control centers, that if rendered inoperable or damaged as a result of physical attack could result in instability, uncontrolled separation, or Cascading within and Interconnection.”  NERC explained in its petition that the new version of CIP-014 is intended to ensure an adequate and consistent approach for evaluating instability and identifying infrastructure that is critical to the operation of the Bulk Power System.

On September 14, 2026, FERC approved changes to ISO New England Inc.’s (ISO-NE) Day-Ahead Ancillary Services (DA A/S) market to reduce costs and improve efficiency. The market incurred more than $900 million in costs during its first year, and ISO-NE estimates the revisions will save approximately $23 million annually. FERC’s approval of ISO-NE’s proposal will adjust how ISO-NE forecasts next-day energy needs and set a new floor on the price at which resources become financially exposed for failing to perform. The revisions take effect on October 22, 2026.

On August 28, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) denied petitions for review of FERC’s certification of East Tennessee Natural Gas, LLC’s (East Tennessee) System Alignment Program (Project). The D.C. Circuit held that FERC did not violate customers’ due process rights…

On August 31, 2026, FERC granted The Empire District Electric Company (Empire District) two transmission rate incentives for its portfolio of electric transmission projects in the Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) region (SPP Project Portfolio): (1) Abandoned Plant Incentive; and (2) construction work in progress (CWIP) Incentive.  The Abandoned Plant Incentive will allow Empire District to recover 100% of prudently incurred costs for any SPP Project Portfolio component cancelled or abandoned for reasons beyond its control.  The CWIP Incentive will allow Empire District to include 100% of prudently incurred CWIP costs in rate base during the development and construction phase of the SPP Project Portfolio. 

On August 28, 2026, FERC granted Hillsboro Solar, LLC’s (Hillsboro) authorization to make wholesale sales of electric energy, capacity, and ancillary services at market-based rates (MBR) on the condition that Hillsboro adopt the same market power mitigation as Hillsboro’s affiliate, Duke Energy Florida, LLC (Duke Energy Florida) in certain balancing authority areas (BAAs). In doing so, FERC emphasized that long-standing Commission precedent requires an MBR seller to include the same market power mitigation as any mitigated affiliate in its tariff in order to obtain MBR authority.

Host Bill Derasmo is joined by founder and CEO Antonio Baclig of Inlyte Energy. Baclig was recently featured in a Wall Street Journal article highlighting Inlyte’s sodium-iron battery technology, and announced the company’s first battery pack delivery to an energy storage facility in Alabama. Listen in to learn how Inlyte is replacing traditional nickel with iron to drive down costs, achieving superior footprint energy density for grid-scale and data center applications, and positioning for domestic manufacturing growth with the help of battery tax incentives.

On May 13, 2026, FERC granted rehearing, in part, of its November 26, 2025 order issuing a new license to Bear Swamp Power Company, LLC (Bear Swamp) for its 676 megawatt (MW) Bear Swamp Hydroelectric Project (Project) on the Deerfield River in Berkshire and Franklin Counties, Massachusetts. FERC’s order addressed Bear Swamp’s rehearing request challenging license Article 403(2), which required maintenance of impoundment elevations between 830 and 835 feet from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on certain days per year to support whitewater boating. In its rehearing order, FERC revised license Article 403(2) to clarify that Bear Swamp would not be in violation of its license for deviating from the impoundment elevation requirements when doing so at ISO-NE’s direction to maintain grid reliability.