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 On June 10, 2010, the Murkowski Resolution to disapprove EPA’s endangerment finding on greenhouse gases (“GHG”) was defeated in the Senate by a vote of 47-53.  All Senate Republicans and six Senate Democrats voted in favor of the resolution.

On June 18, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) rejected the resource adequacy compliance filing by the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (“Midwest ISO”) for failing to develop a permanent approach to congestion that limits aggregate delivery.  In rejecting the filing, FERC again ordered the Midwest ISO to consider using location-specific capacity requirements in its resource adequacy plan. 

On May 27, 2010, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) asked the Senate for en banc unanimous consent to confirm over one hundred nominees to various positions in federal agencies, the courts, and the military.  Harkin’s request included Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominee Cheryl LaFleur and sitting Commissioner Philip Moeller  (see March 12, 2010 edition of the WER).

Numerous industry groups, business associations, environmental advocacy groups and public interest organizations have petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review EPA’s reconsideration of the so-called “Johnson Memorandum.”  In its reconsideration, EPA determined that greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) would be subject to regulation under the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (“PSD”) and Title V permit programs as of January 2, 2011.  In the related tailoring rule, which was published in the Federal Register on Thursday, EPA established a process for phasing in PSD and Title V requirements, including the requirement to do Best Available Control Technology for GHGs, beginning on January 2, 2011.

On June 2, 2010, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) and the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) published their report entitled “High-Impact, Low-Frequency Event Risk to the North American Bulk Power System” (“HILF report”).  The report highlights risks that could have disastrous impact on the bulk power system, such as acts of war, terrorism, and coordinated criminal activity, but which are either rare or have never occurred. 

On May 20, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC” or the “Commission”) Staff presented the “Summer 2010 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment” report. The assessment relied on data from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (“NERC”) assessment of demand and capacity forecasts and data from several reliability regions.