On March 11, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) released its Draft National Action Plan on Demand Response (“National Action Plan”).  Written comments, which will aid FERC in finalizing the National Action Plan, are due Thursday April 8, 2010.

A draft report issued this month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) calls for substantially tightening air quality standards for fine particulate matter.  The report comes as EPA prepares to issue a draft proposal in November 2010 and a final rule in July 2011 for annual and 24-hour fine particulate matter standards.

On March 18, 2010, FERC approved Tres Amigas LLC’s (“Tres Amigas”) request to sell transmission service at negotiated rates, with conditions on anchor customers and initial capacity offerings. In a separate order, FERC declined the petition to disclaim jurisdiction over the transmission facilities that will interconnect the Tres Amigas project with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”) transmission system in Texas.

In July 2009, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, (D-NM), introduced a bill, the “American Clean Energy Leadership Act,” which would allocate costs for new transmission and bar FERC from assigning the cost of a transmission project to a region or “sub-region” unless FERC can prove the costs are “reasonably proportionate to measureable economic and reliability benefits.”

Last week, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) began the final review stage for new automobile standards that would increase the nation’s fleetwide fuel economy and create the first-ever greenhouse gas (“GHG”) regulations for cars and trucks.  The proposed automobile standards are on track to be finalized by the end of March.

On March 8, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Cheryl A. LaFleur for Commissioner of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”).  If confirmed by the Senate, LaFleur would fill the seat vacated by Suedeen Kelly in December 2009 for a term to expire on June 30, 2014.

On March 5, 2010, FERC approved a settlement order under which the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council, Inc. (“FRCC”) will pay a $350,000 civil penalty for its part in the February 26, 2008 power outage in southeastern Florida. This is the first time that a regional reliability entity has been fined for violating a mandatory reliability standard.

On March 5, 2010, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied rehearing en banc of its decision in Connecticut v. American Electric Power to allow nuisance claims against emitters of greenhouse gases (GHG).  The 2nd Circuit’s decision comes approximately one week after the 5th Circuit announced it will reconsider its October ruling, Comer v. Murphy Oil, which had also allowed individuals to sue large emitters of GHG for damage caused by climate change. A third tort case based on GHG emissions, Native Village of Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil Corp., is still pending in the Ninth Circuit.  A more complete discussion of these cases may be found here.