federal energy regulatory commission (ferc)

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The Shale Gale, unleashed by technological breakthroughs in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, has also led to a discussion of the United States potential to become a net-exporter of natural gas for the first time ever.[read more]

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit concluded that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission lacks jurisdiction to enforce a $30 million fine against accused natural gas market manipulator Brian Hunter.[read more]

As it was wrapping up business for 2012 and heading off for the holidays, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") left a lump of coal in Bonneville Power Administration's stocking in the form of two orders rejecting Bonneville's efforts to address wind generation curtailments during periods of over-generation. Together, the orders put Bonneville's efforts to address the over-generation problem nearly back to square one.[read more]

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As noted here at KP in August, a group of electric power economists (including me) filed an amicus brief on FERC’s demand response pricing rule.At the Master Resource blog, Travis Fisher examines the issue with some detail. Here is a bit:In Order No. 745, FERC reasoned that, “when a demand response resource has the capability to balance...[read more]

One of the great opportunities of distributed energy storage (DES) technology—and perhaps critical to its economic viability—is the ability of owners of DES systems to aggregate the electricity stored by tens or hundreds of individual DES systems and to wheel that power to customers outside the owner’s service area. The FERC’s current NOPR will deal in part with rules governing how and at what price owners of DES systems can sell stored electricity to customers in interstate transactions that are subject to FERC jurisdiction.[read more]

Distributed generation (DG) is one important realization of the Smart Grid to improve grid reliability and add jobs to local economies.  At residential, microgrid or utility-scale levels, DG increases options for powering the distribution grid in the event of centralized generation or transmission failures.  Last week the...[read more]

“You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.”  Winston Churchill made this statement in the context of a World War and a Cold War.  Today, the context is a new “arms race” – to be the global leader in energy security technologies encompassing clean energy sources, energy...[read more]

Does the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) really want to go down this path? Do they really think that faking a consumer cartel will help make wholesale power markets work more efficiently? Consumers come to any market in pretty direct competition with each other. Suppliers are offering their goods and I would like to buy as...[read more]

As the August 2003 blackout illustrated, even the slightest hiccup in the process of providing a reliable power supply can spell trouble for both the United States and Canada. A reliable supply of electricity is an essential priority for electric utilities in North America.  Our industry harbors no illusions.  Reliability is...[read more]