On April 2, 2009, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) introduced an energy bill (S. 807) that would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) transmission siting authority, provide nuclear power incentives, expand offshore drilling and use oil and gas revenues to fund renewable energy and efficiency.

On April 2, 2009, FERC filed a petition seeking an en banc hearing asking the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (“Court of Appeals”) to reconsider the case of Piedmont Environmental Council v. FERC.

On April 2, 2009, FERC denied the two principle allegations in a complaint by PJM Interconnection, LLC (“PJM”) against a member company, Power Edge LLC (“Power Edge”) and several of its affiliates (collectively, “Tower Companies”), claiming Tower Companies manipulated PJM’s financial transmission rights (“FTR”) when Power Edge defaulted in December 2007.

On Tuesday, the New York Regional Interconnect (“NYRI”) suspended its plan to build a 190 mile, high-voltage transmission line in New York after it claimed an order by the Commission on March 31, 2009 created too many financial risks for its investors.

On March 26, 2009, FERC issued an order accepting in part and rejecting in part revisions to PJM Interconnection Inc.’s (“PJM”) Reliability Pricing Model (“RPM”) that were proposed in a February 9, 2009, settlement agreement. As part of the order, the Commission increased the cost of new entry (“CONE”), conditionally accepted PJM’s proposed redesign of the incremental auction process, and included new provisions to enable energy efficiency resources to participate in the capacity market.

On March 19, 2009, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued its third order on rehearing (“Order No. 890-C”) regarding its open access transmission reform rule, Order No. 890, in order to clarify the calculation of available transfer capability (“ATC”).