FERC

As FERC begins its process of adopting the new digital reporting standard, eXtensible Business Reporting Language or XBRL, it opened the opportunity for the states to become active in the process. The data structure design has the potential to dramatically change how state public utility commissions are able to oversee the utilities they regulate.

Best practices for defending against FERC enforcement litigations and investigations are emerging.

This article critiques FERC's rationale for entertaining pancaked complaints; describes as background the FPA bias favoring existing rates; and explains, in light of Emera Maine insights, the inability of pancaked complaints against the same ROE to support either the establishment of new ROEs or the refund of revenues collected under past, superseded ROEs.

Now is not the time to reverse course, to undermine states’ ability to define and regulate retail electric service.

As Ulysses S. Grant said, ‘I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws [or regulations] so effective as their stringent execution.’

Can FERC reliably predict whether, when, renewables and storage will become sufficiently economically, technically feasible to displace fossil fuel generation?

FERC should make staying the course on competition in Order 1000 a priority.

For a merger to be successful, you must have a story to tell; the merger must make sense for the ratepayer; and the two companies must mesh with one another.

FERC was right to focus first on defining the issue on a regional basis, and only then to move towards solutions.

The DOE proposal pushes FERC into a potential mid-life crisis.