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Energy Exactions

New residential and commercial developments often create costs in the form of congestion and burdens on municipal infrastructure. Citizens typically pay for infrastructure expansion associated with growth through their property taxes, but local governments sometimes use cost-shifting tools to force developers to pay for—or provide—new infrastructure themselves. These tools are forms of “exactions”—demands levied on developers to force them to pay for the burdens new projects impose.

Too Much Risk, Too Little Reward

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is a little-known and too-often ignored federal authority with the power to block or rapidly accelerate the transition to a clean energy future, and is thus indispensable to addressing climate change. Institute for Policy Integrity scholars Bethany A. Davis Noll and Burcin Unel are to be applauded for bringing into focus a regulatory space that is essential to efforts to decarbonize the power sector.

Markets, Externalities, and the Federal Power Act: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Authority to Price Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Electricity generation in the United States is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gas emissions, which cause severe climate change-related harms. Despite the severity of those harms, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), which regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale electricity markets, has avoided addressing the issue. FERC has historically shied away from environmental considerations in ratemaking.

85 FR 45032

FERC proposed to amend its regulations governing the safety of hydropower projects licensed by the Commission under the Federal Power Act to promote the safe operation, effective maintenance, and efficient repair of licensed hydropower projects and project works to ensure the protection of life, health, and property in surrounding communities. 

85 FR 44296

FERC seeks comments on any or all topics discussed at its July 8-9, 2020, technical conference on the ongoing, serious impacts that emergency conditions caused by COVID-19 are having on various segments of the United States' energy industry.

85 FR 44068

FERC reviewed the reasonableness of costs incurred by other federal agencies in connection with their participation in the Commission's proceedings under the Federal Power Act Part I when those agencies seek to include such costs in the administrative charges licensees must pay to reimburse the United States for the cost of administering Part I. 

85 FR 43824

DOE accepted claims in FY 2021 from eligible uranium and thorium processing site licensees for reimbursement of certain costs of decontamination, decommissioning, reclamation, and other remedial action under Title X of the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

85 FR 40113

FERC amended its regulations to preclude the issuance of authorizations to proceed with construction activities with respect to natural gas facilities authorized by order pursuant to §3 or §7 of the Natural Gas Act until either the time for filing a request for rehearing of such order has passed with no rehearing request being filed or the Commission has acted on the merits of any rehearing request. 

85 FR 39854

FERC seeks comment on its proposed index level used to determine annual changes to oil pipeline rate ceilings. 

85 FR 37932

FERC seeks comment on certain potential enhancements to the currently effective Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standards, particularly on whether the standards adequately address cybersecurity risks pertaining to data security, detection of anomalies and events, and mitigation of cybersecurity events.