Enforcement Update: FERC settles with Lincoln and assesses penalty against Coaltrain; Aliso Canyon continues to dominate attention
This week’s enforcement update reports on FERC Enforcement’s settlement with Lincoln Paper and FERC’s civil penalty assessment against Coaltrain. We also cover developments in the TOTAL complaint case in district court, and the NERC report and new legislation in California addressing the Aliso Canyon outage in California. Plus FERC’s order today accepting CAISO’s changes to deal with Aliso Canyon.
Energy Enforcement Update
Today at the FERC open meeting, FERC Staff and others briefed the Commissioners on Aliso Canyon. Concerns about reliability and manipulation figured prominently.
On hearing about the issues and proposed solutions, Commissioner LaFleur remarked: “It’s been my experience that history has shown when there is turmoil and disruptions in quickly developed solutions can create opportunity for market manipulation, price gouging, bad actors and so forth. I know that Larry [Parkinson, Director of the FERC Office of Enforcement] and his team will be closely looking.”
Energy Enforcement Update
On May 10, 2016, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a press release announcing proposed amendments (the Proposed Amendments) to an order issued in 2013 (the RTO-ISO Order) relating to certain electric energy-related products. If adopted, the amendments would allow private litigants to sue certain Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), Independent System Operators (ISOs) and market participants for certain violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulations (the CFTC Rules) relating to such products, including for alleged fraud or market manipulation. The Proposed Amendments would effectively reverse the holding in a recent Fifth Circuit case, Aspire Commodities v. GDF Suez Energy North America, in which the court held that private rights of action for violation of the CEA and CFTC Rules were foreclosed pursuant to the RTO-ISO Order. The Proposed Amendments were approved by the Commissioners by a two over one vote with a dissent from Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo.
The CFTC’s proposal to amend the RTO-ISO order was published in the Federal Register as of May 16, 2016. The Proposed Amendments will be open for public comment until June 15, 2016.
Please see the full update here.
Energy Enforcement Update
Yesterday, May 10, the CFTC issued proposed amendment to the 2013 RTO/ISO Final Order to exempt private rights of action. This marks a potentially major change for the financial energy products transacted under the RTO/ISOs tariff.
Energy Enforcement Update
This week’s enforcement update reports on developments in the TOTAL and ETRACOM cases—FERC’s order to show cause against TOTAL and venue transfer for TOTAL’s complaint in district court; and ETRACOM files an additional expert affidavit in the FERC proceeding, but FERC denies ETRACOM’s request for discovery from CAISO. Also, there is a new NAV issued against Saracen Energy Midwest for alleged SPP tariff violations.
Energy Enforcement Update
This week’s enforcement update includes a new class action against TOTAL, as well as filings in the City Power, ETRACOM and TOTAL proceedings.
Energy Enforcement Update
This week’s enforcement update includes rulings in the Lincoln Paper/Silkman demand response proceeding and the spoofing case against Michael Coscia, as well as filings in the TOTAL and Powhatan/Chen proceedings in federal district court.
Energy Enforcement Update
Lot of developments in enforcement this week, including a new FERC enforcement settlement plus related criminal charges by the United States and Massachusetts. We also cover the Fifth Circuit’s denial of a private right of action in the GDF Suez case (remember the pending SPP exemptive relief application), filings in the Powhatan/Chen, Maxim Power and Barclays proceedings in federal district court, and the ETRACOM proceeding at FERC.
Energy Enforcement Update
This week’s enforcement update covers ETRACOM’s answer to FERC’s Order to Show Cause, FERC Enforcement’s reply to Coaltrain’s de novo review election, and items from FERC’s monthly open meeting.
Energy Enforcement Update
This week’s enforcement update covers filings in the ETRACOM show cause proceeding at FERC, FERC enforcement actions in federal court and FERC’s 2015 State of the Markets Report.