Electricity, Federal Government, Generation, Natural Gas

US, states eye recommendations on gas-electric interdependency

by  • 

This could impact electricity pricing.

US, states eye recommendations on gas-electric interdependency
Washington (Platts)
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners plan to recommend ways to improve the coordination of generation and natural gas supplies to avoid power outages such as the one that struck the Southwest during a February 2011 cold snap, commissioners said Sunday.

FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff and Commissioners John Norris and Cheryl LaFleur participated in a discussion of the topic with state utility commissioners at NARUC’s winter meetings in Washington. After the dialog, which featured a grid operator and power industry response to a simulated gas shortage that limited…

Electricity, Federal Government

PUC vs. FERC, More Than a Bunch of Letters

by  • 

Once upon a time the power rested with the states. With the advent of big federal government the power shifted the other way.

State power regulators vs. FERC: there’s some pain out there
By Kathy Larsen The Barrel www.platts.com
When US state utility regulators meet in Washington next week for their annual winter conference, one of the themes they will cover–to a larger or smaller extent–will be states versus the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

One state regulator is throwing down a big glove, the Constitution, in what reads like a profoundly felt fist-shaking against efforts to plan and pay for power systems more centrally.

Brad Molnar, a member of the Montana Public Service Commission, has introduced a resolution for state regulators to take up when they meet in Washington next week. It has a litany of pain points, a number of…