Energy Legal Blog

FERC has clarified that in-house attorneys who simply draft or redraft contracts without making decisions about the contract’s commercial terms are not considered “marketing function employees” and thus are not subject to the Independent Functioning Rule under the FERC Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers by virtue of such drafting activity.  The Standards of Conduct require marketing function employees to work independently of transmission employees and to be shielded from access to non-public information pertaining to transmission. (more…)

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) civil enforcement action against a New York Mercantile Exchange broker for “knowingly” manipulating settlement prices for electricity future contracts on behalf of Avista Energy, Inc. in 1998.  In DiPlacido the court lowered the CFTC’s penalty by one third, and affirmed the CFTC’s cease-and-desist order, registration revocation, and 20-year trading prohibition. (more…)

FERC commenced three separate investigations November 19th into the rates of three different interstate pipeline companies — Northern Natural Gas Company, Great Lakes Gas Transmission LP, and Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America LLC.  FERC began these three investigations on its own motion (not in response to a complaint) in order to determine whether the rates were generating windfall profits for the pipelines. (more…)

FERC Order No. 717-A purports to “clarify” FERC’s Standards of Conduct governing the relationship between transmission providers and their marketing affiliates by limiting the ability of certain utility legal, finance and regulatory employees to serve both the marketing and the transmission sides of the business.  This order, if not stayed, takes effect November 23. (more…)