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On June 19, 2014, FERC approved Reliability Standard EOP-010-1, a new reliability standard requiring certain reliability coordinators and transmission operators of the bulk-electric system to develop procedures to help mitigate the effects geomagnetic disturbances (“GMDs”) have on the bulk-electric system.  Reliability Standard EOP-010-1 was submitted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) in response to FERC’s directives in Order No. 779 (see May 20, 2013 edition of the WER), and represents the first of a two-stage process designed to address GMD events.

On June 11, 2014, FERC Commissioner Tony Clark released a statement largely agreeing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s (“D.C. Circuit”) recent decision to vacate FERC Order No. 745, which required organized wholesale energy markets to compensate demand response resources at the market price for energy (see May 27, 2014 edition of the WER).  Commissioner Clark’s statement followed Acting Chairman Cheryl LaFleur’s announcement that FERC plans to seek an en banc review of the D.C. Circuit’s decision.  Clark had not yet joined the Commission when Order No. 745 was issued in 2011.

On June 11, 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced that it will invest more than $10 million in projects that will “improve the reliability and resiliency of the U.S. electric grid and facilitate quick and effective response to grid conditions.”  Specifically, DOE will make Recovery Act grants to help deploy software that works with synchrophasor technology – which can measure instantaneous voltage, current, and frequency at specific grid locations – in order to increase timely access to information related to the status and condition of a transmission system.

On June 2, 2014, as directed by President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Administrator Gina McCarthy signed EPA’s proposed emission guidelines for existing electric utility generating units, which EPA has dubbed the “Clean Power Plan.”  The proposal sets state-specific, rate-based goals.  According to EPA, this proposal will help reduce carbon emissions from the power sector 30% from 2005 levels by 2030.

On June 6, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“DC Circuit”) ruled that FERC’s environmental assessment of Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company, L.L.C.’s (“Tennessee Gas”) proposed “Northeast Project” violated the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”).  Specifically, the DC Circuit held that FERC (1) failed to consider Tennessee Gas’ Northeast Project in conjunction with three other connected and interdependent Tennessee Gas pipeline projects, and (2) failed to provide a meaningful analysis of the cumulative impacts of all of the Tennessee Gas projects.

On May 30, 2014, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued a proposed rule to exclude utility operations-related swaps with utility special entities in calculating the aggregate amount of an entity’s swap positions for the purposes of the special entity de minimis threshold.  The proposed rule follows CFTC Letter No. 14-34, which provided temporary enforcement relief for parties failing to register as a swap dealer with respect to utility business-related swaps with public power utilities.

On June 4, 2014, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied an emergency motion requesting a stay of two FERC orders associated with the New York Independent System Operator, Inc.’s (“NYISO”) creation of a new capacity market local deliverability zone in the lower Hudson Valley.  The creation of the new zone requires that a certain amount of capacity serving that area be located within the zone, which could lead to higher capacity prices in that area.  The petitioners, Central Hudson Gas & Electric and the New York Public Service Commission (“NYPSC”), argued to the court that the implementation of the new capacity zone would unnecessarily expose consumers to considerably higher prices and that pending transmission developments would eventually make the zone unnecessary.

On May 29, 2014, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a notice of proposed procedures to change its process of reviewing applications – and making final public interest determinations – on liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) export applications to nations without a Free Trade Agreement (“non-FTA”).