On November 3, 2010, FERC denied Florida Power & Light Company’s (“FPL”) petition to reverse previous orders on FERC’s jurisdiction over interconnection agreements between a utility and a qualifying facility (“QF”).  FERC upheld Commission precedent on QF interconnection agreements as being consistent with the Federal Power Act (“FPA”), the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”), and the FERC policies. 

On October 26, 2010, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) released a Special Assessment, “Potential Resource Adequacy Impacts of U.S. Environmental Regulations” (the “Assessment”), which examines the impact of four potential Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) rules and proposed rules which could result in generating unit retirements or forced retrofits between 2013 and 2018. 

On October 21, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) conditionally approved the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (“NERC”) 2011 business plan and budget (“2011 Budget”), as well as the 2011 business plan and budget for the Regional Entities and Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Board (“WIRAB”). 

On October 21, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) conditionally approved the move of Duke Energy Ohio, Inc. and Duke Energy Kentucky, Inc (collectively “Duke”) from the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (“Midwest ISO”) to PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”).

On October 21, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) clarified how California may promote new generation resources in a way that does not contradict federal laws (the “October 21 Clarification”).  The Commission also denied the California Public Utilities Commission’s (“CPUC”) request for rehearing.

On October 12, 2010, Google, Trans-Elect Development Company, LLC (“Trans-Elect”), Good Energies, and Marubeni Corporation (“Marubeni”) announced that the four entities are partnering to create the Atlantic Wind Connection project.  The Atlantic Wind Connection project will create an underwater transmission “backbone” to connect more than 6,000 MW of offshore wind through more than 350 miles of high voltage direct current (“HVDC”) lines.