On Wednesday, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (“Senate Energy Committee”) voted for an amendment to Sen. Jeff Bingaman’s (D-NM) transmission bill (see May 8, 2009 edition of the WER) that will limit broad cost allocations for “national interest” power lines in a given region. The amendment, proposed by Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), could create new financial hurdles for developers proposing large new power line projects.

On Tuesday, Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce (“House Energy Committee”) met behind closed doors to discuss and negotiate several portions of Rep. Henry Waxman’s (D-CA) energy bill (see April 3, 2009 edition of the WER). While the meeting did not finalize every provision of Rep. Waxman’s energy bill, Democrats on the House Energy Committee agreed to several key portions of the bill.

On May 8, 2009, FERC rejected proposed amendments to Entergy Services, Inc.’s (“Entergy”) System Agreement regarding allocation of bandwidth payments and receipts, finding that the Commission does not have jurisdiction to determine the allocation of such costs between state jurisdictions.

On May 6, 2009, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) approved revisions to eight cyber security standards for America’s bulk power system as part of their standards revision work plan. The primary revision was the removal of “reasonable business judgment” language in response to concerns FERC voiced in Order No. 706 issued on January 18, 2008.

On Wednesday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (“Energy Committee”) released a joint staff draft of Chairman Jeff Bingaman’s (D-NM) energy bill that would address concerns by states on cost allocation as well as give the Department of the Interior authority to site new transmission lines on federal lands.

On Thursday, FPL Group, Inc. (“FPL”) announced that former FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher will serve as the company’s Executive Vice President, Federal Regulatory Affairs. The newly created position will have Kelliher oversee all of FPL’s federal energy regulatory policy matters. Kelliher will report directly to FPL’s Chairman and CEO.

On Wednesday, members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (“Energy Committee”) discussed Chairman Senator Jeff Bingaman’s (D-NM) revised “discussion draft” transmission siting legislation. Previously, Senator Bingaman released draft legislation on March 10, 2009 (see March 13, 2009 edition of the WER).