Energy Legal Blog

Pent up demand for oversight on both sides of the political aisle will drive a trend for renewed Congressional oversight in the upcoming term in 2011, notably in the energy and environmental sectors. In a recent video interview, Scott Segal, head of the Government Relations and Strategic Communications practices at Bracewell & Giuliani in Washington, D.C., discusses the prospects renewed Congressional oversight and why it’s important.

Today, Bracewell & Giuliani’s government relations team issued its analysis of the 2010 mid-term elections. While the analysis covers a broad range of topics of interest to business and manufacturing, the presentation singles out key areas within the energy sector, including energy and environmental policy, industrial owners and operators, offshore energy development and renewable energy. To view the entire presentation, click here.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) released an Order Approving Stipulation and Consent Agreement involving North America Power Partners (“NAPP”) in Docket No. IN09-6.  The matters considered in the Order related to NAPP’s participation as a Curtailment Service Provider in the PJM Interconnection L.L.C. (“PJM”) Synchronized Reserve Market, Interruptible Load for Reliability (“ILR”) Program and the Interchange Energy Market during 2007 and 2008.  Without admitting or denying liability, NAPP agreed to pay a civil penalty of $500,000, disgorge unjust profits of $2,258,127, plus interest, and undertake various compliance-related activities, including semi-annual reporting and conducting a comprehensive compliance audit.  NAPP’s former Senior Vice President of Operations, also a former PJM employee, was a central figure in the activities subject to the enforcement order.  The order stressed that the penalty amount reflected NAPP’s financial position and could have been substantially higher for an entity with more resources.  The matters were referred to FERC Enforcement by PJM. (more…)