President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order titled Strengthening the Reliability and Security of the United States Electric Grid, which aims to bolster electric grid reliability and address the national energy...more
The US Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Commerce (DOC) announced on October 30, 2024 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed earlier this year to collaborate on safety research, testing, and standards for...more
Earlier this year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) issued Order 1977 to address its limited backstop siting authority for electric transmission lines. On October 17, 2024, FERC issued Order...more
Following a directive from the US Congress, FERC issued Order No. 893, providing incentive-based rates for public and nonpublic utilities to encourage voluntary investments in Advanced Cybersecurity Technology and...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking on September 19, 2024 to tighten its existing mandatory controls for certain electric assets. The proposal reflects...more
Artificial intelligence (AI) not only provides new technological advantages to the energy industry, but also the industry is itself responsible for providing the vast (and growing) amount of energy consumption driven by the...more
The US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has advanced the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024, a bipartisan energy bill that would facilitate permitting for energy infrastructure and mining projects....more
The US federal government’s evolving role in overseeing transmission development took another leap forward after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Orders 1920 and 1977, two new rules that mark FERC’s...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit dismissed a class action lawsuit claiming a California utility was liable for blackouts that were allegedly caused by inadequate electric system maintenance....more
The DC Circuit has affirmed FERC’s application of the “cost causation” principle to prevent a public utility (the Utility) from allocating costs for facilities to customers that did not benefit from the facilities. The...more
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a notice of inquiry (NOI) in December 2023 seeking comments on whether and, if so, how FERC should revise its policy on providing blanket authorizations for investment...more
Entities in the energy industry are subject to a vast amount of reporting regulations. Earlier this year, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) finalized rules regarding the disclosure of cybersecurity attacks, adding...more
The energy industry faces unique challenges when it comes to cybersecurity and working with vendors on digital transformation projects. Energy is one of the “critical infrastructure sectors” identified in Presidential Policy...more
FERC recently issued an order approving revisions to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Rules of Procedures to modify the rules for developing mandatory reliability standards. These changes, reflected...more
In 2022, FERC began issuing directives aimed at ensuring that the reliability of the bulk-power system is protected from potential risks posed by the growing number of inverter-based resources (IBRs) connected to the electric...more
In a per curiam decision on October 3, 2023, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed that the Federal Power Act prevents tort suits against the United States relating to damage caused by dams that are licensed...more
FERC has issued its final rule paving the way for incentive-based rate treatment for electric utilities that make certain voluntary cybersecurity investments. As we first noted in 2020 when describing the proposed rule, the...more
On March 16, FERC approved North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Reliability Standard CIP-003-9, Cyber Security – Security Management Controls, which introduces two new requirements to the suite of...more
There are no unimportant North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standards, but from time to time, NERC and the Regional Entities (Regions) place greater emphasis on certain reliability standards in...more
FERC issued three orders focused on increasing regulations for inverter-based resources (IBRs) in fulfillment of one of its primary goals to protect the reliability of the bulk-power system. FERC ensures this reliability...more
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a request for information (RFI) on the new cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure owners as required by the Cyber Incident...more
FERC recently held a Staff-led technical conference to discuss whether, and if so, how, the Commission should require additional financial assurance mechanisms in the licenses and other authorizations it issues for...more
More than a decade since issuing Order No. 1000, FERC is formally developing new rules for regional transmission planning and cost allocation after what FERC calls “mounting evidence” that existing planning processes are...more
More than a decade since issuing Order No. 1000, FERC is formally developing new rules for regional transmission planning and cost allocation after what FERC calls “mounting evidence” that existing planning processes are...more
More than a decade since issuing Order No. 1000, FERC is formally developing new rules for regional transmission planning and cost allocation after what FERC calls “mounting evidence” that existing planning processes are...more