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. 

On May 24, 2012, FERC issued an order approving a stipulation and consent agreement between FERC’s Office of Enforcement, Vista Energy Marketing, L.P. (“Vista”) and Michael P. Whalen, Jr.  The order provides for a civil penalty of $350,000 for what the Commission called a “reckless violation” of a prior Commission order.

On May 24, 2012, the United States Senate confirmed the nominations of Commissioner John Norris and Tony Clark to be members of FERC.