Federal Power Act

A rapid succession of Section 202(c) emergency orders has forced utilities to keep more than 2 GW of coal capacity online in December alone, marking an unprecedented federal intervention in grid operations and triggering legal challenges from states and environmental groups. Across all orders issued since May 2025, the DOE has now stalled the retirement […]

The Trump administration’s unprecedented use of emergency grid authorities entered a second phase in August 2025, as the Department of Energy (DOE) extended three critical reliability orders. The measures signal that this year’s historic string of federal interventions—staked in Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act—are likely to continue beyond the traditional summer peak and […]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has invoked emergency authority to compel Puerto Rico’s public utility to dispatch mothballed oil-fired and fossil-fueled power units, citing an imminent threat to grid reliability following two major blackouts in less than a month. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, acting on behalf of the DOE’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, […]

The tension between state and federal lawmakers is ages old, with a history marked by periods of outright assault or relative peace. On Dec. 19, 2019, the quiet in the energy sector was broken by an order from

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Sept. 6 took the rare but drastic action of issuing an emergency order under the Federal Power Act (FPA) to authorize the maximum operation of three natural gas–fired facilities on the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO’s) grid whose full capability had been stranded by federal air quality and […]

Developers and other sellers of electricity have traditionally viewed utilities as creditworthy counterparties. Utilities are longstanding institutions that provide a public service and receive a regulated

Attorneys general from 11 states ramped up pressure on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to recognize state policy goals as it makes decisions related to market design, siting of new gas pipelines and storage facilities, and grid reliability.  The measure is the latest in a string of recent pushes by states to ensure federally […]

The threat to power grid resilience and reliability due to the continued retirement of coal-fired power plants has generated calls for immediate action. A severe weather event such as the “bomb cyclone” or

A myriad of issues come into play when parties execute power industry mergers and acquisitions. Part 1 of this two-part series examines what dealmakers need to know before making any transactions

An official with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told a nuclear industry group this week that the agency and Trump administration officials are trying to identify power plants they consider critical to the nation’s grid. The move is seen as part of the White House effort to prop up the struggling U.S. coal and […]

A draft memo circulated by the Trump administration before the National Security Council urges federal action to force grid operators to buy power from uneconomic coal and nuclear plants. Bloomberg on May 31 first pointed to the existence of the 41-page memo, which is dated May 29 and distributed Thursday. The memo outlines plans for a […]

A rule proposed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on September 29 directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to mandate that competitive power markets develop and implement market rules to “accurately price” what it calls “fuel-secure” generation. The DOE’s “Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule” directs FERC—an independent regulatory government agency that is officially organized as […]

The Department of Energy (DOE) issued an unprecedented emergency order on April 14 to keep open a power plant that had been slated for shutdown under the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) in a bid to secure electric reliability. The DOE’s order was issued under the Federal Power Act Section 202(c). It inaugurates the […]