On March 20, 2012, the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources held a hearing to consider the nominations of four individuals: Adam Sieminski, to be the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, Marcilynn Burke to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Anthony Clark to be a member of FERC, and John Norris to be a member of FERC.

On March 6, 2012, the Bonneville Power Administration (“Bonneville” or “BPA”) submitted an Oversupply Management Protocol (“OMP”) as part of its compliance filing in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (the “Commission” or “FERC”) December 7, 2011 Order which found that BPA engaged in unduly discriminatory curtailment practices and directed BPA to file an OATT pursuant to Federal Power Act Section 211A. 

On March 15, 2012, FERC issued an order conditionally approving the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (“NERC”) “Find, Fix, Track and Report” (“FFT”) proposal.  The FFT is an enforcement approach that would treat “low-risk” reliability standard violations differently than more serious violations.

On March 12, 2012, the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a report concerning the Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) $30 billion Loan Guarantee Program (“Program”).  The report, titled “Further Actions Are Needed to Improve Tracking and Review of Applications,” reviewed data provided by DOE on its loan applications and the established process through which DOE reviews loan applications.