On May 29, FERC approved a request from Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (“BG&E”) to implement Order No. 679 transmission rate incentives for its portion of the 230-mile, 500 kV Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway (“MAPP”) Project.

On June 4, 2009, FERC and Washington State signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) to coordinate their review of projects that use emerging hydrokinetic technologies in Washington’s waters. Hydrokinetic facilities generate electricity from waves or directly from the flow of water in ocean currents, tides, or rivers.

On Monday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) held a workshop, hosted by Commissioner Philip Moeller, discussing natural gas pipeline siting and stakeholder involvement.

On May 21, 2009, FERC released its “2009 Summer Energy Market Reliability Assessment” on energy expectations for the upcoming summer. Generally, FERC forecasted loads will be lower than the 2007 and 2008 summer seasons.

On May 22, 2009, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) approved the funding arrangement for the construction of a 1,200 MW high-voltage direct current transmission line that will connect Hydro-Québec with ISO New England’s backbone 345 kV transmission system.

Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) announced that it will convene regional conferences to determine whether transmission providers’ planning efforts can meet the “challenges posed by wider integration of regional energy resources into the nation’s power grid for the benefit of consumers.”

On Tuesday, FERC issued a notice requesting supplemental comments to its proposed Smart Grid Policy Statement and Action Plan that was released in March (see March 20, 2009 edition of the WER) due to the release of two Smart Grid funding opportunities offered by the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”).

On May 11, 2009, the Commission approved tariff revisions made by the New York Independent System Operator, Inc. (“NYISO”) that will treat wind resources as flexible resources. The revisions will require wind resources to “dispatch down” in order to resolve transmission system constraints.