FERC Institutes Two Complaint Proceedings Against ISO-NE

On December 28, 2015, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") instituted two separate Federal Power Act Section 206 proceedings based on findings that ISO-NE Inc.'s ("ISO-NE") Transmission Markets and Services Tariff ("Tariff") is unjust, unreasonable, unduly discriminatory or preferential. One Section 206 proceeding (FERC Dockets Nos. EL16-15-000 and ER14-1639-000) seeks to require ISO-NE to submit Tariff revisions by March 31, 2016 that implement zonal sloped demand curves in its Forward Capacity Market ("FCM") rules ("FCM Rules Proceeding"). The other Section 206 (FERC Docket No. EL16-19-000) proceeding seeks to develop just and reasonable formula rate protocols to be included in the ISO-NE Tariff and to examine the justness and reasonableness of the ISO-NE's regional network service ("RNS") rates and local network service ("LNS") rates ("Formula Rates Proceeding"). [Read more]

FERC Issues Show Cause Order against Coltrain and Individuals for Alleged Manipulation in PJM

On January 6, 2016, FERC issued an order directing Coaltrain Energy, L.P. ("Coaltrain"), Coaltrain's co-owners Peter Jones and Shawn Sheehan, and traders/analysts Robert Jones, Jeff Miller, Jack Wells, and Adam Hughes (collectively, "Respondents"), to show cause why they should not be found to have violated FERC's Anti-Manipulation Rule and section 222 of the Federal Power Act ("FPA") by engaging in fraudulent Up To Congestion ("UTC") transactions in PJM Interconnection L.L.C.'s ("PJM") energy markets. The order to show cause follows FERC's Office of Enforcement's ("Enforcement") report alleging that Respondents inflated trade volumes of UTCs through transactions designed to collect large amounts of Marginal Loss Surplus Allocations ("MLSA"). [Read more]

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