Reform

Consumer Group Seeks to Overturn PG&E Pipeline Safety Plan

California’s major utility watchdog group, The Utility Reform Network (TURN), asked state regulators Wednesday to reverse their approval in December allowing $214 million of utility ratepayer support for part of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s (PG&E) multi-year natural gas pipeline safety enhancement plan.

February 1, 2013

Firms Make ‘Little or No Progress’ in Dodd-Frank Compliance

Companies have made “little or no progress” so far in developing compliance programs for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, according to a newly issued report and survey. Meanwhile market participants are fleeing the swaps market due to the “regulatory nightmare” that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has created in drafting its Dodd-Frank rules, said CFTC Commissioner Scott O’Malia last week.

November 19, 2012

Firms Making ‘Little or No Progress’ in Complying with Dodd-Frank

Companies have made “little or no progress” so far in developing compliance programs for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, according to a newly issued report and survey.

November 13, 2012

Congress Urged to Keep Intangible Drilling Costs Tax Breaks

Intangible drilling costs (IDC) are “an ordinary and necessary business expense of the oil and gas industry,” and should only be modified as part of a broader tax reform package — and in combination with a lower, globally competitive corporate tax rate — according to Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA).

October 29, 2012

Congress Urged to Keep Intangible Drilling Costs Tax Breaks

Intangible drilling costs (IDC) are “an ordinary and necessary business expense of the oil and gas industry,” and should only be modified as part of a broader tax reform package — and in combination with a lower, globally competitive corporate tax rate — according to Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA).

October 25, 2012

ICE Completes Energy Swaps to Futures Migration

Even as a number of Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act regulatory rules remain in limbo, IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) said early last week that it has completed the transition on its exchange of cleared over-the-counter (OTC) energy swaps to futures.

October 22, 2012

CFTC to Clarify Registration Deadline for Swap Dealers

As the clock winds down on the deadlines to comply with the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Monday is expected to clear up questions in the market pertaining to the deadline for registration of swap dealers.

September 10, 2012

Exchanges Modify, Create Products To Comply With New Rules

As the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act rules continue to come into focus, trading exchanges are modifying the way they do business in order to better comply with current and anticipated rules and regulations. The latest move came from CME Group, which last week announced the launch of CME Direct, a new technology offering side-by-side trading of exchange-listed and over-the-counter (OTC) markets.

May 28, 2012

Exchanges Modify, Create Products To Comply With New Regulations

As the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act rules continue to come into focus, trading exchanges are modifying the way they do business in order to better comply with current and anticipated rules and regulations. The latest move came from CME Group, which this week announced the launch of CME Direct, a new technology offering side-by-side trading of exchange-listed and over-the-counter (OTC) markets.

May 24, 2012

APGA Asks Congress to Reform NGA for Pipe Over-Recoveries

A group of municipal gas utilities has called on Congress to pass legislation to reform Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) so that shippers can receive retroactive refunds for over-collections of rates by interstate natural gas pipelines. The request was accompanied by a recent study estimating that pipelines over-recovered more than $4 billion from their customers over a five-year period.

April 23, 2012