On April 7, Neil Chatterjee, Chairman of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Brandon Presley, President of the
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)
sent a letter to the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve) in support of a March 24,
2020 request by the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), the American
Gas Association (AGA) and the National Association of Water
Companies (NAWC) that the Federal Reserve extend purchasing under
the Commercial Paper Funding Facility (CPFF) to commercial paper
programs that are rated at A2/P2/F2 Tier 2 by at least two of the
major credit rating agencies.
On March 17, in response to the COVID-19 national
emergency, the Federal Reserve established a CPFF to
provide a "liquidity backstop" to U.S. issuers of
commercial paper through a special purpose vehicle (SPV)
authorized under section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve
Act. The U.S. Treasury will provide $10