On May 20, 2010, the FERC granted in part, and denied in part, Southern LNG Inc.’s (“Southern LNG”) petition for a declaratory order that the Commission would not regulate certain sale and lease activities if Southern LNG decided to reactivate the truck loading facilities at its liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) terminal at Elba Island, Georgia.
FERC News
Bingaman Amendment Attempts to Fix FERC-CFTC Dispute
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 7, 2010, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) filed an amendment, SA 3892, to the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 (“S 3217”), which is currently being debated by the U.S. Senate. Senator Bingaman’s amendment, if adopted, attempts to preserve the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) authority over currently FERC-regulated contracts and electricity and natural gas rates, while acknowledging that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) holds exclusive jurisdiction over energy futures and derivatives.
Senate Energy Committee Votes to Report Commission Nominees
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 6, 2010, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (the “Committee”) held a voice vote at its business meeting to report the nominations of FERC Commissioner Philip Moeller and FERC Nominee Cheryl LaFleur to the full Senate.
DC Circuit Rules against FERC on Netting Station Power Costs
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 4, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (the “DC Circuit”) vacated and remanded a decision by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) requiring the California Independent System Operator (“CAISO”) to alter its open access transmission tariff to comply with FERC’s station-power netting requirements.
FERC issues NOPR to Remove Price Cap for Reassignment of Transmission Capacity
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On April 29, 2010, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) proposing to remove the price cap for transmission customers who reassign transmission capacity beyond October 1, 2010.
PJM Responds to Claims on Posting Unmasked Bid Data
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On May 4, 2010, the PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (“PJM”) filed a response with FERC regarding PJM’s amendments to the PJM Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”). PJM was responding to protests and defended releasing data on the region’s reliability pricing model (“RPM”) auction.
Senate Energy Committee Considers FERC Nominees
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On April 27, 2010, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee (“Senate Energy Committee”) considered President Obama’s nomination of Cheryl LeFleur, the former CEO of National Grid’s U.S. electric distribution business, as well as the re-nomination of Commissioner Philip Moeller, to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”).
FERC Accepts New England Forward Capacity Market Revisions and Sets Issues for Hearing
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On April 23, 2010, FERC accepted a filing by ISO New England Inc. (“ISO-NE”) and the New England Power Pool Participants Committee (“NEPOOL”) to revise market rules for the ISO-NE Forward Capacity Market (“FCM”). The Commission set several contested issues for paper hearing, but allowed ISO-NE to implement all of the proposed changes for the upcoming auction in August.
FERC Conditionally Accepts Enforcement-Related Revisions to NYISO’s Services Tariff
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On April 23, 2010, FERC conditionally approved the New York Independent System Operator’s (“NYISO”) proposed revisions to their Market Administration and Control Area Services Tariff (“Services Tariff”). Specifically, NYISO’s proposed revisions dealt with the issue of “Customer Compliance with Laws, Regulations and Orders.”
SPP Files New “Highway-Byway” Transmission Cost Allocation Methodology
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Uncategorized
On April 19, 2010, the Southwestern Power Pool, Inc. (“SPP”) filed proposed revisions to its Open Access Transmission Tariff (“OATT”) to include a new transmission upgrade cost allocation method called the “Highway/Byway” method, which moves away from allocating costs on a zonal basis to a broader SPP-wide basis.