Category — Uncategorized

On April 15, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released notice 2013-29 (the “Notice”) which provides guidance on what constitutes “beginning of construction” for purposes of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (“ATRA”).  A copy of the Notice can be found here.  Under ATRA, a qualified facility (as described in section 45(d) of the Internal Revenue Code) will be eligible to receive the renewable electricity production tax credit (“PTC”) under section 45 of the Code, or the energy investment tax credit (“ITC”) under section 48 of the Code in lieu of the PTC, if construction of such facility begins before January 1, 2014. [Read more →]

On April 3, 2013, the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources announced it will hold three forums on natural gas issues.  According to the committee, the forums are designed to build on a February 2013 hearing and are scheduled to explore opportunities and challenges within the natural gas industry. [Read more →]

On Thursday, February 21, 2013, FERC issued a Final Rule approving a new regional reliability standard, PRC-006-NPCC-1, designed to ensure the development of an effective automatic underfrequency load shedding (“UFLS”) program in the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (“NPCC”) Region. [Read more →]

On February 15, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) issued an order upholding FERC’s determination that the rates stemming from an ISO New England, Inc. (“ISO-NE”) Forward Capacity Market are not contractual, although challenges to the forward capacity market rates are subject to the same Mobile-Sierra public interest (as opposed to the just and reasonable) standard as contracted rates.  This case is significant because the D.C. Circuit upheld the use of a legal standard normally applied in contractual situations to rates produced by tariff provisions.  [Read more →]

On February 12, 2013, President Barack Obama issued an Executive Order (“EO”) and an accompanying Presidential Policy Directive, PPD-21 (“PPD”) in an effort to improve cybersecurity for critical infrastructure.  Specifically, the EO requires improved cybersecurity information sharing between the federal government and the owners and operators of critical infrastructure – certain vital systems and assets to the U.S. – and the development by the federal government of standards to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure. [Read more →]

On January 31, 2013, FERC addressed PJM Interconnection L.L.C.’s (“PJM”) proposed cost allocation methods for transmission system expansion and enhancements approved during development of Regional Transmission Expansion Plan. FERC deferred a decision on PJM’s proposed cost allocation methods until the Commission conducts a “comprehensive evaluation” of PJM’s related Order No. 1000 compliance proposal. Accordingly, FERC will address the merits of the cost allocation filing in the future order on PJM’s Order No. 1000 compliance. [Read more →]

On February 8, 2013, Entergy New Orleans, Inc. (“Entergy”) issued a press release announcing that it had discovered the cause of the power outage during the Super Bowl – an electrical relay device.  Entergy explained in its press release that the relay is a device designed to “protect equipment in the event of a cable failure between the switch gear and the stadium.” [Read more →]

On January 23, 2013, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) released a report concluding that the Department of Transportation’s (“DOT”) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) should implement various recommendations that the GAO believes will help mitigate the consequences of pipeline failures.  The recommendations include: (1) improving incident response data in order to consider implementing a performance-based approach for incident response times; and (2) sharing guidance and information to help operators decide whether to install automated valves. [Read more →]

On December 11, 2012, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (“MDPU”) assessed fines totaling $24.8 million to three utilities for their responses after Tropical Storm Irene and an October 2011 snowstorm.  In assessing the fines, the MDPU determined that National Grid USA Service Company, Inc. (“National Grid”), NSTAR Electric Co. (“NSTAR”), and the Western Massachusetts Electric Co. (“WMECo”) were all deficient in their post-storm response operations, including their response to downed wires.  The MDPU announced that all of the money collected from the penalties will be returned to the utilities’ respective customers. [Read more →]

On November 2, 2012, Rockies Express Pipeline, LLC (“Rockies”), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P, agreed to pay $945,900 for alleged violations of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) regulations.  Rockies had been accused of violating 28 PHMSA regulations in the construction and initial operation of its Rockies Express (“REX”) natural gas pipeline. [Read more →]