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On April 23, 2013, FERC approved a Stipulation and Consent Agreement (“Settlement”) with Seneca Falls Power Corporation (“Seneca Falls”) for violations of its hydropower license.  In the Settlement, Seneca Falls agreed to pay a $150,000 civil penalty and invest $300,000 in project enhancements.

On April 23, 2013, FERC’s Director of Office of Energy Projects, Jeff C. Wright, testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources concerning draft legislation aimed at increasing hydropower production in the United States.  The draft legislation at issue included S. 545, “Hydropower Improvement Act of 2013” and H.R. 267, “Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013.”  In his testimony, Wright discussed FERC’s authority under the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) to issue licenses or exemptions for hydropower projects under its jurisdiction.  Wright further detailed FERC’s recent efforts to support small and “innovative” projects, including marine and hydrokinetic projects, and pumped storage projects.

On April 15, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released notice 2013-29 (the “Notice”) which provides guidance on what constitutes “beginning of construction” for purposes of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (“ATRA”).  A copy of the Notice can be found here.  Under ATRA, a qualified facility (as described in section 45(d) of the Internal Revenue Code) will be eligible to receive the renewable electricity production tax credit (“PTC”) under section 45 of the Code, or the energy investment tax credit (“ITC”) under section 48 of the Code in lieu of the PTC, if construction of such facility begins before January 1, 2014.

On April 18, 2013, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) to approve the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Inc.’s (“NERC”) Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection (“CIP”) Reliability Standards.  The proposed CIP standards include 10 new or modified standards that implement various cyber security measures and will expand the type of facilities that must adhere to the CIP requirements.  If approved, the new CIP standards will replace the Version 4 standards, which are scheduled to take effect in April 2014.

On April 18, 2013, the Commission dismissed a self-recertification filed by an Exempt Wholesale Generator (“EWG”), Prairie Breeze Wind Energy LLC (“Prairie Breeze”).  The Commission provided additional guidance regarding self-recertification for EWGs, and specifically what constitutes a “material change in facts” prompting the need for self- recertification.

On April 2, 2013, FERC conditionally accepted the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.’s (“MISO”) proposed Open Access Transmission, Energy and Operating Reserve Markets Tariff (“Tariff”) revisions to address resource adequacy requirements for New Load-Serving Entities (“LSEs”).  The proposed Tariff revisions effectively apply the existing MISO Module E-1 annual resource adequacy requirements to New LSEs, taking into account the circumstances of these new entities.

On April 10, 2013, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Sarah “Sally” Jewell to be Secretary of the Interior.  On February 7, 2013, President Obama nominated Ms. Jewell to replace outgoing Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.  Ms. Jewell had a confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on March 7, 2013.

On April 3, 2013, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources announced it will hold three forums on natural gas issues.  According to the committee, the forums are designed to build on a February 2013 hearing and are scheduled to explore opportunities and challenges within the natural gas industry.