On May 21, 2026, FERC denied a complaint filed by Gaston Green Acres Solar, LLC (Gaston) and Bethel NC Hwy 11 Solar, LLC (Bethel) (collectively, with Gaston, Complainants) against PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) arguing: (1) PJM’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff) is unjust and unreasonable because it prevented Complainants from withdrawing their generation projects from PJM’s generator interconnection process Transition Cycle No. 1 without penalty, and (2) in the alternative, FERC should order PJM to issue Bethel its own generation interconnection agreement (GIA) if PJM’s Tariff is not deemed to be unjust and unreasonable in this regard. FERC denied the complaint, finding the Complainants did not satisfy their burden under Federal Power Act section 206, failed to identify Tariff provisions requiring the issuance of a GIA for Bethel, and did not demonstrate that PJM violated its Tariff.

On May 19, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (DC Circuit) dismissed Cage Ranch Solar LLC’s and Cage Ranch Solar II, LLC’s (collectively, Cage Ranch) consolidated petitions for review of FERC orders denying Cage Ranch’s complaint and waiver request, which sought to set aside a deadline by which Southwest Power Pool, Inc.’s (SPP) tariff (Tariff) required Cage Ranch to post financial security for network upgrade costs to support its interconnection requests and maintain its queue position.  The DC Circuit dismissed the petitions for failure to demonstrate a concrete injury in fact necessary to establish Article III standing.

On May 21, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed changes to its natural gas blanket certificate regulations to expand the scope and scale of projects that interstate natural gas pipelines may construct without a case-specific authorization order, and to increase the cost limits for such projects. In a companion order issued the same day, FERC extended a previously granted temporary waiver so that projects constructed and placed in service by May 31, 2028 may continue to rely on an increased prior-notice cost limit.

On May 11, 2026, the President signed into law S. 1020, sponsored by Senators Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.), which modifies the timelines under which certain federally licensed hydropower projects must begin construction. The law focuses on a defined set of “covered projects” and provides the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) with additional authority to extend construction‑start deadlines beyond what is currently permitted under the Federal Power Act.

On April 24, 2026, FERC issued a Final Rule establishing a Producer Price Index for Finished Goods (PPI-FG) minus 0.55% for oil pipelines. The Commission set the revised PPI-FG for a five-year period, July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2031. In setting the revised index, FERC “trimmed” the utilized cost data to the middle 80% of cost changes, declined to incorporate certain Form 6 cost data that was resubmitted in 2025, and adjusted the page 700 data set to reflect the Commission’s return on equity (ROE) policy changes based on the 2020 index review. The Final Rule is effective June 29, 2026.

On April 28, 2026, FERC accepted PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (PJM) Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff) revisions to establish a price cap and floor for all Reliability Pricing Model (RPM) auctions for the 2028/2029 and 2029/2030 Delivery Years, finding that the price cap and floor will allow PJM to signal the need for additional resources while protecting customers from higher prices.

Host Bill Derasmo sits down with Jonathan Tan, CEO and co‑founder of Coreshell, for a deep dive into how U.S.-made silicon anodes could reshape the global battery industry. Their conversation unpacks Coreshell’s approach to producing low‑cost, domestically sourced silicon anodes designed to replace Chinese‑sourced graphite — an innovation with major implications for supply chain security, national competitiveness, and the future of electrification. For anyone tracking the next wave of battery technology or the geopolitics of energy storage, this episode offers insight you won’t want to miss.

On April 17, 2026, staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) released a draft revised Section 9.0 of its Security Program for Hydropower Guidance addressing cybersecurity for hydropower projects. FERC staff explains that the revisions are intended to modernize the existing guidance to reflect technological advancements, lessons learned from inspections and audits, and evolving practices for protecting cyber and control-system assets. Comments on the draft are due Monday, May 18, 2026.

On April 16, 2026, FERC issued a civil penalty assessment order, directing American Efficient and affiliated companies (together, American Efficient or Company) to pay $1.1 billion in disgorgement and civil penalties for what FERC called “one of the largest and most brazen frauds in the history of the [] Commission.”…

On April 16, 2026, FERC accepted in part and rejected in part PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (PJM) compliance filing proposing changes to PJM’s Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff). FERC accepted PJM’s clarification of procedures for using new generating facilities to serve Co-Located Load but rejected revisions to the definition of “Co-Located Load” and PJM’s incorporation of such definition in specific Tariff sections. FERC ordered PJM to submit a further compliance filing by May 18, 2026.