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On Tuesday, December 31, 2012, the Commission issued an order asserting jurisdiction over a “purity” ethane pipeline.  Williams Olefins Feedstock Pipelines, L.L.C. (“Williams”) had filed a Petition for Declaratory Order requesting that the Commission disclaim Interstate Commerce Act (“ICA”) jurisdiction over Williams’ proposed Williams Bayou Ethane Pipeline project (“Ethane Pipeline”).  The Commission denied the petition and clarified that “the Commission’s ICA jurisdiction applies where oil or petroleum products that can be used for energy purposes are moved in interstate commerce.”

On December 24, 2013, FERC and the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (“Idaho PUC”) entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (“MOA”) to resolve a complaint FERC filed against the Idaho PUC for alleged violations of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”).  The MOA states that FERC will file a Joint Stipulation for Voluntary Dismissal (“Joint Stipulation”) with the United States District Court for the District of Idaho (“Court”), and withdraw the complaint it filed against the Idaho PUC.

On December 19, 2013, FERC issued a final rule approving a revised Reliability Standard for Protection System Maintenance.  The revised standard PRC-005-2, which consolidates the four current Reliability Standards into a single standard, will incorporate new requirements for minimum maintenance activities and maximum time intervals between maintenance activities for individual components of the bulk electric system.  The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) revised the standard in response to directives issued in FERC’s Order No. 693.

On December 11, 2013, FERC Staff convened a workshop to discuss the mechanics for filing a zero rate reactive power rate schedule – a rate schedule under which there is no compensation for providing reactive power service.  The next step will be for Staff to issue a formal notice requesting written comments on this issue.

On December 3, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) vacated and remanded FERC’s 2011 order regarding certain aspects of the Joint Operating Agreement (“JOA”) between the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”) and the Southwest Power Pool (“SPP”).  The case involves the impact on SPP of integrating Entergy Arkansas into MISO.

On December 2, 2013, FERC filed two petitions in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts asking the court to affirm FERC’s assessment of civil penalties against Lincoln Paper and Tissue, LLC (“Lincoln”), Competitive Energy Services, LLC (“CES”), and Richard Silkman for allegedly manipulating the New England demand response market.

On November 15, 2013, FERC issued Order No. 787, authorizing interstate natural gas pipelines and electric transmission operators to voluntarily share non-public, operational information with each other to promote grid reliability and operational planning.  In doing so, FERC stated that “[w]ith the increasing reliance on natural gas as a fuel for electric generation, ensuring robust communications between transmission operators in the electric and natural gas industries will help both systems operate reliably and effectively.”

On Tuesday, November 19, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) held that the Secretary of Energy (“Secretary”) again failed to perform a valid evaluation of annual fees collected from generators for disposal of nuclear waste under the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act (the “Act”).  The D.C. Circuit ordered the Secretary to suspend collection of the fees until such time as it resumes its work with regards to the creation of the Yucca Mountain storage project, as set out in the Act, or until Congress chooses to enact an alternative waste management plan.

On November 21, 2013, FERC approved, with modifications, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (“NERC”) Version 5 Critical Infrastructure Protection (“CIP”) Reliability Standards, CIP-002-5 through CIP-011-1 (see April 22, 2013 edition of the WER).  In addition to approving the Version 5 CIP Reliability Standards, FERC also approved 19 new or revised definitions for inclusion in the Glossary of Terms used in NERC Reliability Standards.