On Tuesday, May 31, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) headquarters in Washington DC experienced an outage after a reported failure of two underground transmission cables. FERC’s systems, including online services, were shut down, and personnel were placed on administrative leave.
FERC News
FERC Relies on Federal “Catchall” Statute of Limitations to Dismiss Case
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 24, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) dismissed a complaint stemming from the California energy crisis by relying on several grounds, including a federal “catchall” statute of limitation – perhaps the first time FERC has relied on this law to dismiss a complaint.
FERC Releases Summer 2011 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 19, 2011, FERC staff presented the Summer 2011 Energy Market and Reliability Assessment (the “Assessment”). Overall, staff revealed that demand forecasts are largely the same as compared with Summer 2010, and generation and reserve margins for the season are projected to be sufficient.
FERC Releases NOI on Transmission Investment
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 19, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) released the Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”), Promoting Transmission Investment Through Pricing Reform.
Senator Murkowski Submits Questions to FERC on Reliability Implications of EPA Actions
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 17, 2011, Senator Lisa Murkowski, (R-AK), sent a letter to FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff in which she expressed concern over the impact of proposed and final rules by the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) on the reliability of electricity.
FERC Allows MISO to Recover Penalty and Clarifies When Party Names Should be Released for Reliability Violations
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
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.
Commissioner Phillip Moeller & Gerry Cauley Give Keynote Address at EUCI Conference
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
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.
FERC and NERC will Work Together on Southwest Outage Inquiries
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
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.
Joseph McClelland Testifies Before the Senate Energy Committee
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
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.
DC Circuit Rules Against Alcoa in Yadkin Relicensing Case
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 3, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“DC Circuit”) rejected a petition by Alcoa Power Generating Company (“Alcoa”) to review two FERC orders on the relicensing of the company’s Yadkin River Project in North Carolina.