The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued an order on May 1, 2019 denying rehearing of its orders asserting concurrent jurisdiction with a bankruptcy court over wholesale power contracts.

In January, prior to Pacific Gas & Electric (“PG&E”) filing for bankruptcy, NextEra Energy, Inc. and Exelon Corporation both filed complaints and petitions for declaratory orders from FERC, requesting that the Commission find that PG&E could not abrogate, amend, or reject in a bankruptcy proceeding any rates, terms, and conditions of its FERC-jurisdictional wholesale power contracts without first obtaining approval from the Commission.  The Commission quickly issued a brief order holding that a party to a FERC-jurisdictional wholesale power contract must obtain approval from both the bankruptcy court and the Commission  to reject a contract and modify the filed rate, respectively.  PG&E then filed its petition for bankruptcy and initiated an adversarial proceeding against FERC, requesting preliminary and injunctive relief.  That matter has continued to play out in the Northern District of California and there has not yet been a resolution by the bankruptcy court.  Meanwhile, PG&E requested rehearing of the Commission’s decision.  The Commission’s order on rehearing offers a more in-depth analysis of its jurisdiction.

The order first highlights the distinct roles that FERC and a bankruptcy court play in evaluating wholesale power contracts.  While FERC’s role is to protect the public interest, the bankruptcy court’s role is to provide a path to rehabilitate debtors.  The Commission held that the existence of bankruptcy proceedings does not alter its obligation, and exclusive authorization, to consider whether wholesale rates are just and reasonable. 
Continue Reading FERC Reaffirms Concurrent Jurisdiction Over PPAs in Bankruptcy

The Utah Public Service Commission (PSC) issued its decision today on PacifiCorp’s request to shorten the maximum term of power purchase agreements (PPAs) with qualifying facilities (QFs) from 20 years to three years.  The PSC agreed to reduce the maximum term from 20 to 15 years, concluding:  “We believe a 15-year term strikes the appropriate

After the years of inconclusive resource planning, months of contested case proceedings, and days of oral argument, discussion and review that led to today’s deliberations, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (“Commission”) unanimously decided not to decide. The ultimate question before the Commission was what capacity needs had been determined in the record and what should

Thousands of solar industry participants gathered in Chicago for the Solar Power International expo in Chicago, Illinois on October 21-24 to discuss the state of the solar industry. Participatnts included banks, investors, developers and equipment suppliers, and also several Stoel Rives attorneys.

Many themes emerged during the week-long event, and a common thread running through these

On September 26, 2012, Georgia Power filed with the Georgia Public Service Commission a proposal for the creation of the Georgia Power Advanced Solar Initiative, a program that would result in the procurement of up to 210 megawatts of solar generation through power purchase agreements. Of the 210 MWs, 180 will come from utility scale projects