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Federal Power Act

Perspective: Leave Green-Power Quotas to the States

Congress should not impose a federal renewable portfolio standard.

The adoption of an RPS by more than a dozen states has inspired and contributed to proposals for a federal green-power quota. Leave the green-power quotas to the states. PURPA should be amended to include an RPS among the retail policies that can be adopted or rejected by state public service commissions.
Byline: 

James W. Moeller

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Lost in Translation

Critics say FERC's filed rate doctrine is wrong for the times.

It’s quite remarkable how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been able to pound a square peg into a round hole. With not much more than a wink and a smile, FERC has taken a depression-era law meant for monopolies — the Federal Power Act — and has made it serve double duty as a foundation for competitive power markets. Yet FERC’s reinterpretation, for all its good intentions, may prove inadequate in the long run to define and support full-fledged energy markets.
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

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Commission Watch: The Tyranny of FERC

The commission's power grab over bankruptcy courts condemns merchants to a corporate netherworld.

A new district court decision out of Texas tilts the field in favor of FERC's assertion of exclusive authority over who decides whether a debtor can terminate unprofitable power contracts. For merchant energy companies struggling with dwindling capital and mounting credit risks, this change could mean bankruptcy is no longer a viable option for reorganizing.
Byline: 

Kenneth Irvin and Robert Loeffler

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The Reliability Czar

Is FERC the rightful heir?

The possibility that energy legislation drafted last year won't pass in 2004 has created a power vacuum. Who now is czar of electric utility reliability?
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

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Commission Watch: Grid Battle Is Joined

FERC's AEP ruling begs the question: Can the feds bypass states that block transmission reform?

A recent ruling puts the question squarely on the table: Can FERC overturn orders issued by the state public utility commissions that otherwise would stand in the way of its vision of regional transmission organizations with a standard market design?
Byline: 

Lori A. Burkhart and Bruce W. Radford

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Close to Load, Far From Consensus

Feds seek plug-and-play for distributed generation, but utilities want the power to stay local.

Pity the poor Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. With its market crusade out of favor, and transmission reform suddenly suspect after the Aug. 14 blackout, it could use a new agenda. Indeed, FERC this past July had proposed a new set of standards for the connection of small- and micro-sized power plants units to regional transmission networks, or even to radial or local distribution lines operating at low voltages.
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

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MISO-PJM Super Region: FERC Makes Companies Pay for RTO Choices

Irregular seams affect ratemaking policies.

In a case that marks the first time FERC eliminated inter-RTO rate pancaking, the commission in late July issued an order terminating regional through-and-out rates (RTORs) charged by two regional transmission owners. The decision removes an estimated $250 million in yearly fees collected by those two entities. But the lost revenue has parties to the proceeding squabbling over many aspects of the case.
Byline: 

Lori A. Burkhart

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Commission Watch

Why FERC must yield to bankruptcy law.

Commission Watch

Why FERC must yield to bankruptcy law.

 

How will regulators react if the current trickle of bankruptcies within the debt-laden merchant power sector should suddenly become a torrent? Will they encourage the necessary restrcturing of debt, or will they stand in the way?

Byline: 
Kenneth Irvin and Robert Loeffler
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Commission Watch

How far will FERC go to restore market confidence?

Commission Watch

How far will FERC go to restore market confidence?

 

Despite keen industry interest in FERC's proposed "rules of the road," aka new codes of conduct, it appears the industry will have to wait. FERC recently granted extensions for filings, and the commission will not gather all reply comments until Sept. 18. Filings so far point to differences over the proposals, especially in time frames for reporting bad behavior, appropriate monetary penalties, and defining to whom the rules apply.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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