Enforcement

FERC on Friday accepted a settlement hammered out between the Commission’s enforcement staff and Houston-based units of Duke Energy that resolves outstanding matters relating to the Western electricity crisis in 2000-2001. Among other things, the agreement terminates and resolves any issues before the Commission involving Duke’s “wash” trading of natural gas.

Top federal law enforcement authorities announced Thursday that former Westar Energy CEO David C. Wittig and Douglas T. Lake, ex-executive vice president, were indicted this week by a federal grand jury on 40 counts of conspiracy, fraud and related criminal charges.

Tennessee said it was ceasing enforcement Tuesday of a Balancing Party’s Maximum Allowable Volume.

Energy trading companies should leap into action with “an aggressive compliance program in-house,” including a regimen of standards and procedures to weed out unacceptable market behavior, a veteran attorney in the regulatory arena told the mid-year meeting of the Energy Bar Association.

Energy trading companies should leap into action with “an aggressive compliance program in-house,” including a regimen of standards and procedures to weed out unacceptable market behavior, a veteran attorney in the regulatory arena told the mid-year meeting of the Energy Bar Association.

In one of the most aggressive environmental enforcement actionsever, the federal government yesterday filed a series of lawsuitsagainst 32 coal-fired electric utility plants in the South andMidwest alleging that they made illegal modifications to theirfacilities, which resulted in increased nitrogen oxide (NOx) andsulfur dioxide (SOx) emissions over the years.

In a case that points up the marketplace failure of FERC’scapacity release rules, Consumers Energy and the Commission’senforcement section have come to a no-fault agreement over chargesConsumers collected payments in excess of maximum lawful rates forupstream pipeline capacity released to shippers.

In a case that points up the marketplace failure of FERC’scapacity release rules, Consumers Energy and the Commission’senforcement section have come to a no-fault agreement over chargesConsumers collected payments in excess of maximum lawful rates forupstream pipeline capacity released to shippers.