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”).

On March 19, 2009, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) to approve six Modeling, Data and Analysis (“MOD”) Reliability Standards that would require certain users, owners and operators of the transmission system to develop consistent methodologies for the calculation of ATC.

Yesterday, the White House announced that President Obama named the current Acting Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”), Jon Wellinghoff, to the post permanently. Chairman Wellinghoff is widely seen as a proponent of the White House’s green energy policy.

In addition, the White House announced that…

On Monday, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff agreed to principles that will allow the agencies to finalize a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) regarding each agency’s role in developing renewable energy on the Outer Continental Shelf (“OCS”).

On Thursday, FERC issued a proposed policy statement and action plan to develop a smarter grid for the U.S. electric transmission system. The Commission’s intent is to prioritize the development of key interoperability standards, provide guidance to the electric industry regarding the need for full cybersecurity for “Smart Grid” projects, and provide an interim rate policy under which jurisdictional public utilities may seek to recover the costs of Smart Grid deployments before relevant standards are adopted through a Commission rulemaking.

On March 13, 2009 the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“DC Circuit”) upheld FERC’s decision to grant a new 50-year license to the New York Power Authority’s (“NYPA”) Robert Moses Niagara hydroelectric project (“Niagara Power Project”).