Jill Drum

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On January 14, 2026, FERC accepted the Southwest Power Pool, Inc.’s (SPP) revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (Tariff) to create a High Impact Large Load (HILL) study process and High Impact Large Load Generation Assessment (HILLGA) process. The HILL study process establishes study and operational requirements for HILLs connecting to SPP’s transmission system. The HILLGA is a new interconnection process for interconnection requests of generation resources necessary to serve HILLs. The Tariff revisions are effective as of January 15, 2026.

On December 18, 2025, FERC directed PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) to revise its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“Tariff”) to:

1) establish terms that an Interconnection Customer seeking to serve co-located load must follow when effectuating a co-location arrangement;
2) clarify the scope and potential of interconnection service when interconnecting new generation to serve co-located load; and
3) require that a customer taking transmission service on behalf of co-located load take one of three new transmission services.

FERC found PJM’s Tariff was unjust and unreasonable because it did not provide the rates, terms, and conditions of service applicable to generators serving co-located load or eligible customers taking transmission service on behalf of such load with sufficient clarity or consistency. FERC separately established a paper hearing to determine just and reasonable rates for new transmission services and ordered PJM to revise the Behind the Meter Generation rules in the PJM Tariff.

On November 17, 2025, FERC accepted the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (MISO) proposed revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) to modify real power testing requirements for Demand Resources. MISO specifically proposed more stringent requirements for Demand Resources seeking waiver of performing real power tests and real power tests for Demand Resources using a firm service level baseline. FERC accepted the proposed revisions as just and reasonable, finding the proposed revisions standardize testing procedures for Demand Resources.

On November 24, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina denied American Efficient LLC’s (American Efficient) preliminary injunction seeking to halt FERC’s civil enforcement proceedings for alleged market manipulation and tariff violations. American Efficient argued that FERC’s process violated the Seventh Amendment and Article III of the U.S. Constitution by denying its right to a jury trial in an Article III court. The Court held that the Federal Power Act’s (FPA) scheme—allowing FERC to assess a penalty but requiring the government to obtain a de novo jury trial in federal court before any penalty can be enforced—satisfies requirements under the Constitution.

On October 28, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Fifth Circuit) denied several petitions for review of FERC’s authorization of Gas Transmission NW, LLC’s (GTN) GTN Xpress compressor expansion project (Project).  Specifically, the Fifth Circuit (1) denied GTN’s petition for review challenging FERC’s denial of a…

On October 1, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a final rule revising 53 regulations to include conditional sunset provision in response to the April 2025 Executive Order titled “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy.” FERC, along with nine other agencies, was required to establish one-year…

On September 9, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court upheld FERC’s order granting Broadview Solar, LLC’s (“Broadview”) hybrid solar and battery project qualifying facility (“QF”) status based on FERC’s interpretation of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”). Specifically, even without the benefit of Chevron deference (discussed below), the D.C. Circuit reaffirmed FERC’s interpretation that PURPA’s 80 MW statutory size limitation should be applied using the capacity a QF can “send out” to the grid, even if the facilities have a higher aggregate generating capacity.

On August 29, 2025, FERC issued three orders accepting tariff revisions proposed by PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric (“PGE”) to enable both utility’s participation in the California Independent System Operator Corporation’s (“CAISO”) Extended Day-Ahead Market (“EDAM”) and accepting CAISO’s proposed tariff revisions which modify the EDAM’s allocation of congestion revenues. The three orders issued by FERC clear the way for PacifiCorp and PGE, the first two entities to file tariff revisions to participate in the EDAM, to enter the market in 2026.

On May 22, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) addressed a dispute between ANR Pipeline Company (“ANR”) and FERC. The case centered on the interpretation of ANR’s tariff and whether it required shippers to deliver and take gas simultaneously, even for short-notice shipments. The Fifth Circuit denied ANR Pipeline Company’s petition for review, affirming FERC’s decision that ANR’s tariff did not require simultaneous delivery for short-notice shipments. The court found the tariff ambiguous and emphasized ANR’s longstanding practice of not requiring simultaneous delivery, which supported FERC’s position.