FERC last Tuesday approved a stipulation and consent agreement requiring Louisiana-based Cleco Power LLC to pay a civil penalty of $2 million for violating its code of conduct and a settlement agreement approved by the agency in 2003.

As part of the 2003 pact, Cleco agreed to follow a stricter, consolidated code of conduct. Among other things, Cleco’s revised code of conduct required the Cleco companies, including its unregulated affiliated power markets and generation assets, to function independently of one another.

After Cleco self-reported some of the violations, a FERC staff investigation found that the company’s regulated electric utility and its exempt wholesale generators violated the 2003 settlement agreement and their code of conduct by sharing six operating personnel and market information during a period that ranged from the summer of 2003 to as late as the winter of 2005. The investigation also found that Cleco failed to disclose those violations to the agency’s Office of Enforcement, as required under the 2003 settlement agreement.

“Although Cleco’s actions did not cause ratepayers any harm, the company violated commitments it made in a prior settlement with the Commission,” said Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher. “That is of deep concern to the Commission because it harms the regulatory process. The $2 million civil penalty is a reminder that the Commission will not tolerate such actions.”

Cleco may not recover the civil penalty from its ratepayers, FERC said.

Since January, the agency reported it has approved nine settlements with natural gas and electric companies for a total of $32 million in penalties.

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