On January 19, 2012, FERC denied a petition by the Public Service Commission of South Carolina and the South Carolina Office of Regulatory Staff to form a federal-state joint board to study the impact of Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) regulations on the reliability and affordability of electric power, but pointed to upcoming events where those issues will be discussed.

On January 19, 2012, FERC issued Order No. 757 “Storage Reporting Requirements of Interstate and Interstate Natural Gas Companies.”   This new rule eliminates the semi-annual storage reporting requirements for interstate and intrastate natural gas companies, effective 60 days after publication of the rule in the Federal Register.

On January 19th, Troutman Sanders hosted a webinar presented by partners Peter Glaser and Daniel Larcamp on the Utility Maximum Achievable Control Technology (“MACT”) Rule, the Cross State Air Pollution Rule (“CSAPR”) Stay and the obligation to comply with grid reliability standards.  The presentation discussed the following:

On January 11, 2012, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to implement the “Volcker Rule” requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  Under the proposed rule, banks would be banned from trading on their own accounts, and would be allowed to make only limited investments in private-equity and hedge fund groups. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) provided the electric utility industry with an early Christmas gift last year.  On December 21, 2011, EPA issued its “UMACT” rule, setting forth maximum achievable control technology (“MACT”) standards for coal and oil generating stations. Troutman Sanders has prepared a memorandum summarizing the rule here.  The rule can be appealed 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.  We expect publication in the Federal Register at some point during January 2012.

On January 3, 2012, President Obama signed the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act of 2011 (“Pipeline Safety Act” or the “Act”) into law.  This Act marks the culmination of bipartisan efforts in the House and the Senate to examine and improve the state of pipeline safety regulation. The Act gives enhanced safety review authority to the Department of Transportation (“DOT”).