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On January 29, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit (“DC Circuit”) denied a petition by state utility regulators in New England to challenge a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) decision that applied a higher return on equity (“ROE”) rate for ISO New England, Inc. (“ISO-NE”) as an incentive to complete transmission projects more quickly. 

On January 21, 2010, FERC issued a declaratory order that Western Grid Development LLC’s (“Western Grid”) battery storage devices (“Projects”) are wholesale transmission facilities subject to FERC jurisdiction.  FERC also granted Western Grid’s request for incentive rate treatment for the Projects.  However, FERC reiterated that since energy storage devices do not fit easily into the category of traditional generation, transmission, or distribution, FERC will assess storage devices on a case-by-case basis.

On Friday, January 29, 2010, Energy Secretary Steven Chu revealed the members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.  The Blue Ribbon Commission has the task of developing a new national strategy to deal with nuclear waste as an alternative to the Yucca Mountain repository.  Additionally, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced that its 2011 budget will significantly increase loan guarantees for nuclear projects.

On January 22, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“DC Circuit”) remanded back to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”)  its final rule that adopted changes to the interstate natural gas pipeline reporting rules and financial reforms asserting that FERC failed to adequately respond to a dissenting commissioner in its order.

On January 21, 2010, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) seeking comments on existing barriers to integrating variable energy resources (“VERs”) into the electric grid and whether reforms are needed to remove those barriers.  FERC will use the comments to determine whether changes to wholesale electricity tariffs are necessary to ensure they are “just, reasonable and not unduly discriminatory.”

On January 22, 2010, FERC presiding Administrative Law Judge Carmen Cintron, issued an initial decision in its anti-manipulation case against Brian Hunter, finding that he engaged in fraudulent conduct and intended to lower the settlement price of natural gas futures contracts while he worked for Amaranth Advisors LLC (“Amaranth”) in violation of the Commission’s rule on anti-manipulation.