News + Events
Washington Energy Report - July 19
July 19, 2010
Legislative Focus Increases on Possible Utility-Only Cap and Trade
As Congress returned from the July 4 recess, legislative efforts on cap-and-trade focused on the possibility of a utility-only program. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced that he intends to bring a bill to the floor during the week of July 26 that will include four components: the Gulf oil spill, clean energy, energy efficiency and cap-and-trade. [Read more →]
FERC Approves SPP’s Integrated Transmission Plan
On July 15, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) conditionally approved the Southwest Power Pool, Inc’s (“SPP”) modified transmission planning process, the Integrated Transmission Plan (“ITP”). The ITP will be used to determine future regional transmission needs. [Read more →]
Technical Conference on Reliability Standards Raises Issues
On July 6, 2010, the Commission held a Technical Conference to discuss issues related to the development and enforcement of mandatory Reliability Standards. [Read more →]
FERC Revises Compliance Timeline for Both MOD Reliability Standards and NAESB Business Practices
On July 15, 2010, the Commission released Order No. 729-B, which granted requests for rehearing on the implementation timeline for Order No. 729-A. In its new order, FERC decided to calibrate the timing of the MOD Reliability Standards implementation date from the date of FERC approval, not the date of publication in the Federal Register. [Read more →]
Smart Grid Update: One Year Since Smart Grid Policy Statement
On July 15, 2010, Ray Palmer from the Office of Electric Reliability presented an update the Commission’s Smart Grid Policy Statement (the “Policy Statement”) at the Commission’s monthly meeting. The Commission originally issued the Policy Statement last July (see March 20, 2010 edition of the WER). [Read more →]