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On June 11, 2012, FERC conditionally approved the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator’s (“MISO”) proposed changes to the resource adequacy provisions of its tariff. FERC conditionally approved a controversial capacity market design, but ordered some significant changes to MISO’s proposal that differ from capacity markets in place in eastern RTOs.

On June 11, 2012, FERC submitted a brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) in defense of its authority to impose a $30 million civil penalty on former gas trader Brian Hunter.  The case is before the court on a petition for review of FERC’s penalty order in the Hunter case and pits FERC against not only Hunter, but the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), which argued to the court that FERC lacked jurisdiction to fine the trader.

On June 14, 2012 the Commission accepted the tariff filing of Iroquois Gas Transmission System, L.P. (“Iroquois”) specifying the priority rules that should apply to Iroquois’ transportation and other services for initial scheduling purposes and in the event of a constraint at either a receipt or a delivery point or along the transportation path. 

On June 15, 2012, FERC and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”) held a joint meeting on grid reliability at FERC.  The meeting was in furtherance of a Memorandum of Agreement (“MOA”) (see September 11, 2009 edition of the  WER) between the two agencies to facilitate interactions about matters of mutual interest relating to the bulk power system. 

On June 15, 2012, Tony Clark was sworn in as a Commissioner of FERC.  Commissioner Clark’s nomination was approved by the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on April 26, 2012 (see April 30, 2012 edition of the WER), and confirmed by the Senate on May 24, 2012 (see June 4, 2012 edition of the WER).

On June 7, 2012, FERC provided guidance to PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) on whether there was a responsibility to oversee worker safety under its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”) and whether the OATT’s limited liability clause precludes a negligence tort claim by an injured utility worker.  The Commission determined that PJM is not responsible for maintaining workers’ safety during maintenance procedures.

On May 23, 2012, Staff from FERC’s Office of Enforcement submitted a response to supplement the record in its financial performance audit of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) and refuted claims by NERC that Staff “refused to meet with NERC” and “failed to act in good faith.”  FERC Staff also contested NERC’s claims that Enforcement did not provide an opportunity to review revised recommendations.