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On October 22, 2013, the Department of Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (“ONRR”) announced that it had assessed civil penalties in the amounts of $2.719 million to Apache Corporation (“Apache”) for the “knowing or willful” submission of false information, and $648,000 to XTO Energy (“XTO”) for “knowing or willful” failure to permit an audit.  ONRR’s announcements mark the 11th and 12th civil penalties ONRR has announced this year.

On October 17, 2013, FERC issued an order clarifying its policy regarding the filing of reactive power rate schedules where there is no rate charged (“Clarification Order”).  Specifically, FERC clarified that, going forward, all entities must file reactive power rate schedules containing the rates, terms, and conditions for reactive power service, even if there is no charge for such service.  Furthermore, FERC directed FERC Staff to conduct a workshop to explore the mechanics of such filings.

On October 9, 2013, FERC filed a petition (“Petition”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California for an order affirming FERC’s assessment of civil penalties totaling $435 million against Barclays Bank PLC (“Barclays”) and four of its traders for manipulating electricity markets in and around California, along with disgorgement of profits in the amount of $34.9 million.

On October 1, 2013, FERC accepted and suspended PJM Interconnection, LLC’s (“PJM”) demand resource offer revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”) and Reliability Assurance Agreement, and set the matter for a technical conference.  FERC stated that the technical conference will explore issues raised in the proceeding that warrant further discussion.

On Monday, October 7, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States (“Supreme Court”) denied a petition for certiorari challenging a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) decision that upheld an April 2011 Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) order revising the FCC’s previous interpretation of Section 224 of the Communications Act of 1934, which regulates pole attachment rates.  The FCC’s new interpretation limits the price that electric utility companies can charge telecommunications companies to hang wires and other equipment from utility poles.  The Supreme Court did not state its reasons for denying the petition.

On September 30, 2013, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (“CFTC”) Division of Market Oversight (“DMO”) released responses to Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) regarding commodity options.  The topics addressed in the responses to the FAQs included general information regarding the filing of the CFTC Form TO (Annual Notice Filing for Counterparties to Unreported Trade Options), trade options reporting, and exceptions to commodity options being regulated as swaps.

On September 25, 2013, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) released a final rule increasing the civil penalty maximums for pipeline safety violations.  The rule increased the maximum penalties from $100,000 to $200,000 per day for each violation, and from $1,000,000 to a $2,000,000 maximum for a related series of violations.