When I started my legal career as an energy regulatory lawyer, explaining my job tended to bore even the legally hardy Washington, D.C. crowd. FERC? RTOs? OATTs? Yikes! Lucky for me, this reality has changed over the last few years. Today, politicians, policy folks and industry players realize that much of the transformation towards a clean energy future (or attempts to stop it) depends on rules and decisions coming out of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). I’m thrilled to be back to my legal roots, so to speak, as a senior attorney with the Project for Sustainable FERC Energy Policy - a coalition of environmental groups focused on FERC and regional transmission and wholesale markets issues that is housed within NRDC.
Our coalition is trying to get clean energy integrated into the transmission grid, insure that demand-side resources get a fair crack at participating in wholesale markets around the country, and make sure that old and inefficient (and oh, by the way, really dirty) coal plants can reliably retire sooner than later. Other than my husband and Wilco, FERC is one of my favorite pastimes. I hope this blog will help to translate some of the electric grid garble into English, clarify our goals for a sustainable transmission grid, and maybe even convince a couple of you that FERC really is fun!
Posted September 15, 2011 by Allison Clements in U.S. Law and Policy
The clear message from federal regulators is that we don’t have to choose between electric reliability and public health. Yesterday, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power called on all five Federal Energy Regulatory (FERC) Commissioners to...continued→
Posted August 1, 2011 by Allison Clements in Nuclear Weapons, Waste and Energy, U.S. Law and Policy
Last week I wrote about the planning reforms contained in Order 1000, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s landmark rule on transmission planning and cost allocation. Today’s blog looks at Order 1000’s cost allocation implications – basically, how to figure out who...continued→
Posted July 26, 2011 by Allison Clements in Solving Global Warming, U.S. Law and Policy
Why not start off big? My inaugural blog is the first in a 2-part series on FERC’s Planning and Cost Allocation Final Rule. While Congress continues to be mired in partisanship and politics pushing hopes of comprehensive energy reform to...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
