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On July 15, 2010, FERC ruled that sections of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”) do not preempt the California Public Utilities Commission’s (“CPUC”) decision to require utilities to offer a minimum price for power from certain small combined heat and power (“CHP”) generators if they are Qualifying Facilities (“QF”) under PURPA.  

In a July 23, 2010 opinion, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) denied several appeals regarding the Calfornia Independent System Operator Corporation’s (“CA ISO”) Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade (“MRTU”) initiative, in which the CA ISO overhauled its tariff, markets and the technology it employs to administer those markets. 

On July 15, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) conditionally approved the Southwest Power Pool, Inc’s (“SPP”) modified transmission planning process, the Integrated Transmission Plan (“ITP”).   The ITP will be used to determine future regional transmission needs.

On July 15, 2010, the Commission released Order No. 729-B, which granted requests for rehearing on the implementation timeline for Order No. 729-A.  In its new order, FERC decided to calibrate the timing of the MOD Reliability Standards implementation date from the date of FERC approval, not the date of publication in the Federal Register. 

On June 25, 2010, Duke Energy Ohio, Inc. (“DEO”) and Duke Energy Kentucky, Inc. (“DEK”) filed the first of several filings with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) seeking approval to transfer control of utility assets from the Midwest Independent System Operator, Inc. (“Midwest ISO”) to PJM Interconnection L.L.C. (“PJM”). 

On June 23, 2010, FERC approved an Audit Report (the “Audit”) from the Division of Audits in the Office of Enforcement (“OE”) along with Staff from the Office of Electric Reliability.  The Audit evaluated Florida Reliability Coordinating Council, Inc.’s (“FRCC”) Regional Entity (“RE”) function and related compliance.