On November 28, 2011, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk announced the beginning of a major reform of federal surface leasing regulations for American Indian Lands.  The Department of the Interior, as trustee responsible for managing approximately 56 million surface acres in Indian Country, currently processes requests for land leases and subleases without a defined process or deadline for review.  [Read more →]

On November 10, 2011, it was announced that former Representative Rick Boucher (D-Va.), former FERC Chairman Curt Hebert Jr., and Allison Clements, director of the Project for Sustainable FERC Energy Policy at the Natural Resources Defense Council will lead a new Bipartisan Policy Center panel.   [Read more →]

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In a case that highlights some of the regulatory challenges presented by shifts in the nation’s generation mix, on October 20, 2011, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) accepted Puget Sound Energy, Inc.’s (“Puget”) proposed Schedules 3 and 13 concerning rates for Regulation and Frequency Response Service, but suspended them for a five-month period, to become effective January 5, 2012, subject to refund, and set them for hearing and settlement judge procedures.  [Read more →]

On October 28, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (”DC Circuit) vacated and remanded the Federal Aviation Administration’s (”FAA”) “No Hazard” determinations for the Cape Wind Associates’ proposed wind farm off of the Nantucket Sound (”Cape Wind project”).  The DC Circuit ruling is another major setback to the Cape Wind project that had its loan program put on hold earlier this year by the Department of Energy (see May 23, 2011 edition of the WER). [Read more →]