Posts from — January 2010

On January 22, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“DC Circuit”) remanded back to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”)  its final rule that adopted changes to the interstate natural gas pipeline reporting rules and financial reforms asserting that FERC failed to adequately respond to a dissenting commissioner in its order. [Read more →]

On January 21, 2010, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry (“NOI”) seeking comments on existing barriers to integrating variable energy resources (“VERs”) into the electric grid and whether reforms are needed to remove those barriers.  FERC will use the comments to determine whether changes to wholesale electricity tariffs are necessary to ensure they are “just, reasonable and not unduly discriminatory.” [Read more →]

On January 22, 2010, FERC presiding Administrative Law Judge Carmen Cintron, issued an initial decision in its anti-manipulation case against Brian Hunter, finding that he engaged in fraudulent conduct and intended to lower the settlement price of natural gas futures contracts while he worked for Amaranth Advisors LLC (”Amaranth”) in violation of the Commission’s rule on anti-manipulation. [Read more →]

On January 14, 2010, the Government Accounting Office (“GAO”) issued a report recommending that the Department of Energy (“DOE”) develop better cost estimates for construction and environmental cleanup projects. [Read more →]

On January 21, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) to allow for credit reforms in the organized wholesale electric markets.  Previously, most wholesale electric markets developed credit practices on a case-by-case basis, depending on individual needs.  Due to the current financial situation, some groups have become concerned that these varying credit practices would not be sufficient to protect the markets, and subsequently the consumers, from the high costs associated with credit risks and credit defaults. [Read more →]