On Oct. 19, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to modify filing processes for electronic quarterly reports and revise and eliminate a number of data fields and definitions. Read on for an overview of the proposed changes and implications for EQR filers.
Power
Winter Storm Uri Power Dispute Reaches the Supreme Court of Texas
On Sept. 29, the Supreme Court of Texas announced it will review a lower court’s reversal of two winter storm Uri orders in 2021 by the Public Utility Commission of Texas that raised power prices in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, impacting countless companies and consumers. Read on to learn more about the latest…
FERC Implements Generator Interconnection Process Reforms: Compliance Filings Due December 2023
On September 6, 2023, the Federal Register published the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Order No. 2023, ‘Improvements to Generator Interconnection Procedures and Agreements,’ a 1,000+ page Final Rule adopting reforms to generator interconnection procedures and amending the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Procedures (LGIP), the pro forma Large Generator Interconnection Agreement (LGIA), the…
CFTC: Calling All Whistleblowers in Carbon Markets
By Todd Mullins on
Posted in Energy Policy & Consulting, Power
With an “alert” issued June 20, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is targeting carbon markets by asking whistleblowers to come forward with information about fraudulent or manipulative trading of carbon credits and other environmental commodities as well as related derivatives.
Read on for details about the CFTC’s alert and implications for entities that trade in…
PUCT Winter Storm Uri Orders Reversed and Remanded by Texas Court of Appeals
On March 17, 2023, the Texas Court of Appeals for the Third District issued an opinion reversing two winter storm Uri orders by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) that had raised power prices in ERCOT to $9,000/MWh. ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, manages the electric grid for most, but not all, of Texas and serves approximately 26 million customers.
The decision by the Court of Appeals in Luminant Energy Company LLC v. Public Utility Commission of Texas, No. 03-21-00098-CV, has the potential to affect certain transactions made under the PUCT’s orders. The Court of Appeals not only reversed the PUCT’s orders but remanded them for further proceedings. Should the Court of Appeals’ opinion be upheld, it is unclear how the PUCT will resolve the pricing issues, but it would likely need to hold proceedings to address them. The opinion also raised questions about the authority of the PUCT to issue price caps for Texas’ energy market. Continue Reading PUCT Winter Storm Uri Orders Reversed and Remanded by Texas Court of Appeals
Winter Storm Uri Qualifies as Force Majeure, Even When Performance Was Not “Impossible”
On Feb. 15, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas held that the force majeure provision contained in the parties’ contract applied to excuse performance even if the event — Winter Storm Uri — did not render performance impossible.
In MIECO LLC v. Pioneer Natural Resources USA, Inc., 2023 WL 2064723, the parties had entered into an agreement in which MIECO (Buyer) would purchase 20,000 million British thermal units of natural gas from Pioneer (Seller) each day from Nov. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021. But from Feb. 14, 2021, to Feb. 19, 2021, Pioneer failed to deliver the full amount of the contracted natural gas due to Winter Strom Uri. On Feb. 16, 2021, Pioneer sent MIECO a notice of force majeure.Continue Reading Winter Storm Uri Qualifies as Force Majeure, Even When Performance Was Not “Impossible”