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On May 6, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued an order allowing the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc. (“MISO”) to recover $7,000 in penalties from customers, and in the same order, clarified section 205 filing requirements when an unidentified registered entity (“URE”) is involved. 

On May 11, 2011 Commissioner Phillip Moeller of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) and Gerry Cauley, President and CEO of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”), offered their thoughts on ensuring the reliability of the bulk power system in a keynote address at a conference presented by the Electric Utility Consultants, Inc. (“EUCI”) and hosted by Troutman Sanders LLP. 

On May 9, 2011, Chairman Jon Wellinghoff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) and Gerry Cauley, President and Chief Executive Officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) announced that they will work together to look into the causes of electrical outages and disruptions of natural gas delivery in the Southwest during February 2011.

On May 5, 2011, Joseph McClelland, the Director for the Office of Electric Reliability (“OER”) of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) testified before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (“Energy Committee”) on FERC’s oversight of grid reliability under section 215 of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) and the Commission’s use of FPA authority with regards to cybersecurity.

On April 26, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“DC Circuit”) rejected a challenge by George C. Jepsen, Attorney General for the State of Connecticut and the Connecticut Office of Consumer Counsel (together, the “petitioners”) to ISO New England’s (“ISO- NE”) 2010 Budget.

On April 27, 2011, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) and Securities Exchange Commission (“SEC”) issued a proposed rule to further define “swap,” “security-based swap” and “security-based swap agreement” in connection with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”).

On April 21, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) Commission affirmed the Initial Decision of Administrative Law Judge Carmen Cintron (the “Initial Decision”) determining that Brian Hunter violated the anti-manipulation rule in the first fully-litigated proceeding under FERC’s enhanced enforcement authority under § 4A of the Natural Gas Act.  The rule prohibits manipulation in connection with transactions under the jurisdiction of FERC (see January 28, 2010 edition of the WER).  The Commission also ordered a $30 million dollar civil penalty.