Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

* Friday is the deadline for energy firms to report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on any "round-trip" trading activity they have engaged in since 2000.

Federal energy regulators continued their crackdown on manipulation of California's energy market, ordering a Florida firm to pay a fine of $2.5 million and disgorge unjust profits of $911,553 plus interest. On Monday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a settlement with Florida energy company Gila River Power, a subsidiary of Entegra Power Group, to pay the fine and penalties. The agreement marked the first time a market participant has admitted to a violation of the federal commission's anti-manipulation rule in an energy trading case, the commission said.

President Reagan announced Thursday that he is appointing Jerry Jay Langdon, a Midland, Tex., oil consultant, as a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Langdon, president of Langdon & Associates Petroleum Consultants, would succeed Anthony G. Sousa.

Southern California Edison got the green light Thursday to build the final segments of a nearly $2-billion transmission line that will connect customers with renewable energy produced by windmills. The California Public Utilities Commission approved the construction of the last 173 miles of Edison's 250-mile Tehachapi transmission project in Kern County. The line will be able to transmit as much as 4,500 megawatts of electricity produced from wind, enough power for nearly 3 million homes.

President Reagan said Tuesday that he intends to nominate Martha O. Hesse, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, for another term at the agency, ending Oct. 20, 1991.

Joseph Kelliher, an advocate of expanded authority for regulators to police power markets, was named by President Bush to succeed Pat Wood as chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Kelliher, 44, was on Bush's transition team before joining the commission in November 2003.

Staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asked an agency judge to accept Portland General Electric's offer to pay $8.5 million to settle allegations that it helped parent company Enron Corp. manipulate electricity markets during the West Coast energy crisis. The proposed settlement would pay $6.1 million to California.

A Questar Corp. subsidary said it has received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval to construct a $19.7-million pipeline connecting two natural gas transmission systems. Questar Pipeline Co. said the 81-mile pipeline will begin near a Daggett County, Utah, storage field.

Re "New Evidence of Fraud in Power Crisis," Nov. 16: What Alice in Wonderland world is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission inhabiting? It releases tapes proving that AES Corp. and Williams Cos. colluded in defrauding California of billions of dollars in electricity costs, then forbids the state's use of that evidence in claiming restitution. Julie May Los Angeles

* President Bush plans to nominate two industry veterans to fill vacancies on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The White House said the president intended to name Philip D. Moeller of Washington, an executive of Alliant Energy Corp., and Jon Wellinghoff, a partner in Las Vegas-based energy regulatory law firm Beckley Singleton.

Federal regulators said Monday that Edison Mission Group's power-generating unit had agreed to pay $9 million to settle allegations that its employees misled federal regulators investigating bidding practices in mid-Atlantic power markets. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the Irvine company, a subsidiary of Edison International in Rosemead, "made a series of representations and produced data and documents" that misled enforcement staff before and during their investigation.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposed new rules to improve competition in wholesale power markets amid criticism of rising electricity costs. Average U.S. retail power prices climbed 9.3% to 8.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2006, the largest increase since 1981, according to the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the Energy Department.

Edison International's Southern California Edison won federal approval to earn higher returns for $2.5 billion in power-line projects it's building. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a 1.5% raise for the Devers-Palo Verde II and Tehachapi projects, and 1% for the Rancho Vista project.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must reconsider its denial of refunds to wholesale customers of Powerex Corp. and other electric companies in the Pacific Northwest during the 2000-01 California energy crisis, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. FERC must review rejected claims by cities including Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled.

U.S. regulators on Thursday charged defunct hedge fund Amaranth Advisors and pipeline operator Energy Transfer Partners with manipulating natural gas markets and proposed $458 million in penalties. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in its first enforcement action using new authority provided by Congress, is seeking $291 million from Amaranth and former head trader Brian Hunter and his colleague Matthew Donohoe.

Oil giant Chevron Corp. is seeking permission from federal regulators to build a wave energy project off Mendocino County. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission announced plans this week to speed the licensing process for new wave and tidal energy projects, citing the benefits of the emissions-free sources of power. There are about 57 applications pending before the agency. Chevron said its facility would be capable of generating enough power for 48,000 U.S. homes. The San Ramon, Calif.

Edison International's Southern California Edison won federal approval to earn higher returns for $2.5 billion in power-line projects it's building. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a 1.5% raise for the Devers-Palo Verde II and Tehachapi projects, and 1% for the Rancho Vista project.

The California Public Utilities Commission voted to appeal a decision by federal regulators denying the commission's push to undo expensive electricity contracts signed during the energy crisis of 2000-01. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had denied the PUC's request to rehear its complaint about the contracts between the California Department of Water Resources and power sellers such as Sempra Energy, Mirant Corp., Dynegy Inc., PacifiCorp and Coral Power.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Thursday approved first-ever reliability rules for the nation's wholesale electricity grid, closing a chapter that started with the August 2003 blackout that left 50 million people in the dark. The agency approved 83 separate standards that had been proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corp., which the agency tapped last year to propose rules that it would enforce under the regulators' oversight.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission used its enforcement authority for the first time Thursday, levying $22.5 million in civil penalties on five power companies. PacifiCorp, Scana Corp., Entergy Corp., NorthWestern Energy Corp. and NRG Energy Inc. agreed to pay fines of $500,000 to $10 million for violating commission rules. "We've been very deliberate in the way we've approached this first use" of the penalty authority, Chairman Joseph Kelliher said.