In a big win for FERC and supporters of electricity markets, on January 23, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rejected Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s challenge to New England’s market design. The Attorney General and a group of New England industrial customers challenged FERC’s decisions approving a temporary “hybrid” market design […]
In a December 19 decision of potentially broad applicability to fossil fuel-fired electric generators, a divided (2-1) panel of the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the EPA violated the Clean Air Act when it adopted a final rule that would have lessened controls on emissions of hazardous air pollutants (HAP) […]
In a December 13 order, FERC approved a hydrokinetic generator that City of Hastings, Minnesota proposes to install by April 2009 in the Mississippi River. Hydrokinetic projects generate electricity from waves or from the flow of water. Hastings proposed to suspend two 35-kW hydrokinetic turbines from a floating barge in the tailrace of its existing […]
FERC’s Office of Enforcement on November 6 released its “2008 Report on Enforcement,” an annual report detailing FERC’s enforcement program during the preceding fiscal year ending September 30. This report provides a statistical analysis of FERC’s enforcement activities, including receipts of company self-reports and investigations opened by FERC staff. In a statement issued concurrently with […]
FERC issued a final rule October 17 to strengthen competition in organized wholesale electric markets. The rule (generally consistent with the proposed rule FERC issued last February) seeks to improve wholesale markets by establishing a more forceful role for demand response and long-term contracts in organized markets, strengthening market monitoring, and improving the responsiveness of […]