On January 24, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued an order (“January 24 Order”) denying requests for rehearing of their December 17, 2009 order (“December 17 Order”) which authorized the Secretary of the Commission (“Secretary”) to issue a document entitled Staff’s Preliminary Notice of Violations.
FERC News
GAO Report Identifies Progress and Gaps in Both FERC and State Cybersecurity Standards for Smartgrid
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On January 12, 2011, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a report entitled “Electricity Grid Modernization: Progress Being Made on Cybersecurity Guidelines, but Key Challenges Remain to be Addressed” (the “Report”). This Report highlighted key issues which could cause concern for the smart grid system and identified regulatory problems affecting smart grid cybersecurity standards.
FERC Releases Report on Frequency Response Metrics and Invites Comments
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On January 20, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) posted a report by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (“LBNL”) called “Use of Frequency Response Metric to Assess the Planning and Operating Requirements for Reliable Integration of Variable Renewable Generation” along with its five supplementary papers (together, the “Report”).
FERC Approves CIP Violation Risk Factors and Severity Levels
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On January 20, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) conditionally approved the Violation Risk Factors (“VRF”) and Violations Severity Levels (“VSL”) for version 2 and 3 of the Critical Infrastructure Protection (“CIP”) reliability standards. The CIP standards encompass many security concerns including sabotage reporting and cyber security.
FERC Commissioners Send Letter to the Wall Street Journal
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On January 10, 2011, the five current Commissioners at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) sent a joint letter (the “January 10th Letter”) to the Wall Street Journal (the “Journal”) in response to a December 30, 2010 editorial called “The Midwest Wind Surtax” (the “December 30th Editorial”).
FERC Articulates New Policy to Apply Nexus Test for Transmission Rate Incentives
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
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.
FERC Accepts Midwest ISO Transmission Cost Allocation Filing and California ISO Transmission Planning Filing
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
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.
FERC Moves Forward on Several Reliability Standards
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On December 16, 2010, FERC released several orders on reliability that showed aggressive progress for several reliability standards. FERC proposed approval for several reliability standards for the Western Electric Coordinating Council (“WECC”) through two separate orders.
FERC Approves Merger between FirstEnergy and Allegheny
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On December 16, 2010, FERC approved the merger between First Energy Corp. (“FirstEnergy”) and Allegheny Energy, Inc. (“Allegheny”).
Uncertainty Reigns On Several Fronts For Utility Sector As New Year Looms
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
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.