Energy Legal Blog

On February 22, 2010, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a Final Judgment relating to a settlement reached of a Department of Justice (“DOJ”) Complaint against KeySpan Corporation (“KeySpan”) regarding certain activity allegedly engaged in by KeySpan in the electric generating capacity markets in New York City (the “Settlement“).  The civil antitrust action alleged violations of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.  KeySpan agreed to pay $12 million to resolve the matter.  Interestingly, nearly two years to the day prior to the announcement of the Settlement, the Enforcement Staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) released a report of its investigation of KeySpan’s activities (“Enforcement Report“).  The FERC investigation was closed without a finding of violation of fraudulent behavior or other violations of the FERC regulations.  The Enforcement Report had reported KeySpan’s 2007 receipt of a DOJ Civil Investigative Demand.  FERC did, however, approve various changes designed to improve the market mitigation measures in the New York City capacity market in an initial order and an order on rehearing.  Further rehearing remains pending. (more…)

Last week, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released a draft guidance describing how and when climate change considerations should factor into the environmental impact assessments that federal agencies prepare under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).  The draft guidance is important for anyone proposing to build infrastructure, such as power plants, pipelines and large industrial facilities, since it will influence whether and under what conditions federal agencies  issue permits and other approvals.  Most federal approvals for large projects are subject to NEPA, which requires impact assessments as an aid to federal decision-making. (more…)

On February 16, 2010, President Obama announced that DOE had offered $8.3 billion in conditional commitments for loan guarantees for two new nuclear reactors to be built at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke, Georgia. This announcement came on the heels of the release of Obama’s FY 2011 budget which proposed tripling the current loan guarantee authority for nuclear projects. These two actions signal a renewed willingness on the part of the Administration to support nuclear power as an essential ingredient in the nation’s future energy supply. (more…)

FERC proposes to revisit credit practices and risk management for organized wholesale market in a January 21 rulemaking proposal.  The seven proposed revisions across the board would reign in credit and reduce the default exposure of market operators beginning before the 2010-2011 winter-heating season.  Public comment on the proposed revisions must be filed with the FERC by March 29, 2010. (more…)

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) recently released its much anticipated Barnett Shale Formation Area Monitoring Projects survey.  The survey arrives amidst increasing press coverage of the opportunities and challenges of energy development in the nation’s shale regions.  Conducted over three months in the latter part of 2009, the survey focuses on characterizing air emissions associated with natural gas and oil production in the Barnett Shale.  Out of a total of 94 monitoring sites spread over 5,000 square miles and six counties, benzene levels at two sites were determined to exceed TCEQ’s short-term health-based comparison value, and at another 19 sites, TCEQ expressed concern about long-term cumulative exposure. (more…)

On February 2, 2010, the SEC issued the written interpretive release that it approved last week to guide how public companies should evaluate the impacts of climate change in their communications with shareholders. As companies in the energy industry should note, the guidance does not change the existing principles of corporate disclosure, founded on an assessment of materiality and likelihood. That said, the structure and perspective of the guidance suggest that the SEC expects to see greater attention being given to the evaluation and disclosure of risks and opportunities arising from climate change. (more…)