Bringing fairness to FERC enforcement.
Michel Marcoux is a partner in Bruder, Gentile & Marcoux LLP, www.brudergentile.com, a law firm in Washington, D.C. Contact him at jmmarcoux@brudergentile.com.
Seeking to add consistency, transparency, and fairness to its enforcement process, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed civil penalty guidelines in its March 18, 2010, interim policy statement for organizations violating statutes, orders, rules, regulations, and tariffs that FERC oversees.1 Initially effective on issuance but then suspended to allow for public comment,2 the proposed guidelines would improve the predictability of FERC’s exercise of its penalty-making powers over the natural gas pipeline and electric utility industries, which powers were expanded substantially by Congress in 2005.