FERC Unveils Flurry of Decisions on Energy Projects, Cybersecurity, & Market Oversight

Key Takeaways

• Natural Gas and LNG: FERC reaffirmed its 1999 Certificate Policy Statement and approved expansions in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Louisiana.
• Hydropower Approvals: Licenses granted in New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Alaska, with environmental reviews in New York, Oregon, and California.
• Market Oversight: Over 130 orders issued, including PJM reforms, interconnection changes, and transmission incentives.
• Cyber and Resilience: New Critical Infrastructure Protection updates, expanded supply chain safeguards, and cold-weather preparedness rules advanced.
• Compliance and Litigation: Audits flagged Talen Energy and PG&E, while FERC defended its decisions in multiple federal court cases.

Deep Dive

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been busy. In just two weeks, the agency authorized natural gas expansions in Pennsylvania, issued hydropower licenses across New Hampshire and Minnesota, advanced LNG projects along the Gulf Coast, and sharpened cybersecurity rules for the bulk power system—all while defending its decisions in court and auditing some of the nation’s largest utilities.

In a letter to Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor, Chairman David Rosner outlined this dense slate of activity. The picture that emerges is of a Commission juggling competing imperatives: expanding infrastructure to meet demand, policing markets to ensure fairness, and hardening the grid against mounting threats.

Natural gas infrastructure drew significant attention, with FERC reaffirming the 1999 Certificate Policy Statement and clearing the Rover-Bulger Compressor Station and Harmon Creek Meter Station in Pennsylvania to move 400,000 dekatherms of gas a day. Environmental reviews in Texas and Oklahoma, alongside more than two dozen notices to proceed for LNG export terminals, underscored how central the U.S. remains in global gas markets. Hydropower saw a parallel burst of activity, with licenses granted for projects in New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Alaska, and environmental assessments issued for facilities in New York, Oregon, and California—ranging from small community-scale projects to major multi-hundred-megawatt dams.

Market oversight kept pace with infrastructure approvals. More than 130 orders were issued under the Federal Power Act, tackling everything from PJM capacity market reforms to interconnection bottlenecks in the South, while also approving transmission incentives for FirstEnergy and MGS Iowa. Corporate deals also crossed FERC’s desk, including the transfer of an 821-MW gas-fired plant in PJM and Arizona Public Service Company’s reacquisition of stakes in the Palo Verde nuclear plant.

The Commission’s focus on security and resilience added another layer to its workload. Updates to Critical Infrastructure Protection standards targeted cyber risks even in lower-impact systems, while new directives required broader supply chain safeguards and approved standards for extreme cold weather preparedness. In line with a presidential executive order on wildfire prevention, FERC also scheduled an October technical conference to examine best practices for reducing fire risks tied to power infrastructure.

All of this unfolded against the backdrop of litigation and compliance work. The Commission defended its orders in federal courts, from disputes over PJM governance to gas pipeline authorizations in Puerto Rico, while audits of Talen Energy and Pacific Gas & Electric uncovered deficiencies that both companies pledged to correct.

The sheer volume and range of decisions show how FERC is navigating an energy system under pressure. Its recent actions (part regulatory checklist, part strategic push) point to a Commission intent on ensuring U.S. energy remains reliable, affordable, and resilient, even as the grid grows more complex and the threats it faces more urgent.

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