On December 30, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued two separate but related orders (the “December 30, 2010 Orders”) on transmission rate incentives under sections 205 and 219 of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) and Order No. 679. 

On December 16, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) approved the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.’s (“Midwest ISO”) proposal to socialize costs for the entire region. 

On December 16, 2010, FERC approved the merger between First Energy Corp. (“FirstEnergy”) and Allegheny Energy, Inc. (“Allegheny”).

As 2011 rapidly approaches, electric utilities face significant legal and regulatory uncertainty on a variety of fronts.  First, with respect to transmission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on transmission planning and cost allocation and the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, Inc.’s (“MISO”) so-called “MVP” filing, which socializes the costs of new transmission projects across the entire MISO region, both remain pending. 

On November 24, 2010, FERC issued an order granting Alta Wind Holdings, LLC’s (“Alta Wind”) petition for a declaratory order asking FERC to disclaim jurisdiction over certain investors in sale or leaseback transactions of wind projects. 

On November 18, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) on Integrating Variable Energy Resources (“VERs”) into the electric grid (the “Proposed Rule”). 

On November 18, 2010, FERC clarified through three different orders that when a transmission developer submits a proxy group for return on equity (“ROE”) proposals, the proxy group does not have to be located in the same geographic region as the developer.