Posts from — November 2011

On November 17, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) released the 2011 Report on Enforcement (the “Report”).  The Report is prepared annually by staff of the Office of Enforcement (“OE”). [Read more →]

On October 27, 2011, the Commission held a Technical Conference on last September’s Revised Policy Statement on Penalty Guidelines.   Overall, various members from the Energy industry provided feedback to the Commission, and the industry representatives repeatedly asked for: (1) increased transparency, (2) more communication, (3) more detail on what exactly comprises an effective compliance program, and (4) what determines a penalty amount.  [Read more →]

On November 15, 2011, the Energy in a Warming World Initiative, a three-year research collaboration between the Union of Concerned Scientists and more than a dozen scientists, issued a peer-reviewed report, “Freshwater Use by U.S. Power Plants: Electricity’s Thirst for a Precious Resource.”  The report is the first systematic assessment of power-plant water use, its relationship with fresh water systems and the low-quality of data currently available on the topic.  [Read more →]

 On November 10, 2011, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) issued a decision regarding Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (“PG&E”) petition for modification of decision 10-02-032, regarding implementation of dynamic pricing rates for residential and small/medium agricultural and commercial customers.  [Read more →]

On November 8, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) released its plan to comply with President Barack Obama’s Executive Order No. 13579 concerning periodic retrospective analysis of existing “significant regulations.”  [Read more →]