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On May 6, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued an order allowing the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”) to recover $7,000 in penalties from customers, and in the same order, clarified section 205 filing requirements when an unidentified registered entity (“URE”) is involved. 

On May 11, 2011 Commissioner Phillip Moeller of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) and Gerry Cauley, President and CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”), offered their thoughts on ensuring the reliability of the bulk power system in a keynote address at a conference presented by the Electric Utility Consultants, Inc. (“EUCI”) and hosted by Troutman Sanders LLP. 

On May 9, 2011, Chairman Jon Wellinghoff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) and Gerry Cauley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) announced that they will work together to look into the causes of electrical outages and disruptions of natural gas delivery in the Southwest during February 2011.

On May 5, 2011, Joseph McClelland, the Director for the Office of Electric Reliability (“OER”) of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (“Energy Committee”) on FERC’s oversight of grid reliability under section 215 of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) and the Commission’s use of FPA authority with regards to cybersecurity.

On April 26, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“DC Circuit”) rejected a challenge by George C. Jepsen, Attorney General for the State of Connecticut and the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel (together, the “petitioners”) to ISO New England’s (“ISO- NE”) 2010 Budget.

On April 25, 2011, Entergy Corporation (“Entergy”) announced that the company will be joining the Midwest Independent System Operator (“Midwest ISO” or “MISO”).  Entergy expects to formally join MISO by December 2013.  Entergy anticipates making their initial filings with retail regulators on or before May 12, and soon thereafter, Entergy will file their formal retail regulatory filings.

On April 21, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) that would require the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) to provide Commission staff with access to electronic tags (“e-Tags”) or requests for interchange used to schedule wholesale power.

On April 25, 2011, the New York Independent System Operator (“NYISO”) issued its annual review document, “Power Trends 2011: Energizing New York’s Legacy of Leadership”  (the “Report”).  In the Report, NYISO president and CEO, Stephen G. Whitley, announced: “[t]he immediate outlook for New York’s electric system is positive, but the sustained adequacy of power resources may be affected by a variety of emerging challenges.”