FERC Practice

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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 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.

On July 16, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) unanimously approved measures in two orders streamlining its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review procedures for certain hydropower-related actions with minimal environmental impacts.   In the first order, FERC issued a final rule that expands an existing Categorical Exclusion (CE)—a designation that allows an agency to skip preparing a detailed environmental review document—to cover Commission-initiated terminations and revocations of hydropower licenses and exemptions where there will be little to no ground disturbance and little to no change in reservoir conditions or downstream water flows.  In the second order, FERC adopted two recreation-related CEs implemented by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) that will allow FERC to skip detailed environmental review when authorizing small-scale recreation facility improvements, such as trails, fishing access sites, campgrounds, and parking areas, at FERC-licensed hydropower projects.

In her comments on the orders at the Commission’s July 16 open meeting, Chairman Swett stated that the Commission “must move important approvals forward quickly while ensuring we fully meet our NEPA obligations. Today’s actions are practical, common-sense solutions that streamline our hydropower environmental review process and allow us to better focus our efforts on reviewing large-scale projects.”

On July 16, 2026, FERC issued an order directing California Independent System Operator Corporation (CAISO) and Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP) to submit a joint report by September 30, 2026, on their efforts to coordinate operations along Western market seams. FERC specifically requests that CAISO and SPP: 1) provide details on efforts to date to address seams and market coordination, 2) identify seams and market coordination issues created by the development of organized markets in the West, 3) provide a plan for addressing identified issues, and 4) identify areas where market operators are not aligned on next steps.

On June 26, 2026, FERC accepted New York Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (NYISO) proposal to modify its Installed Capacity market rules to address seasonal reliability risks and to account for seasonal availability of capacity supply.  In doing so, FERC found that the revisions will enhance NYISO’s ability to send appropriate price signals through the Installed Capacity market, which will ensure sufficient capacity during winter periods.  The revisions were accepted effective June 28, 2026.

On June 29, 2026, the Supreme Court of the United States (Supreme Court or Court) issued two companion decisions eliminating for-cause removal protections for commissioners of federal independent agencies—such as FERC—but creating a carveout for members of the Federal Reserve Board. In a 6-3 decision in Trump v. Slaughter…