FERC Publishes 2017 Report On Enforcement

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") Office of Enforcement ("OE") issued its 2017 Report on Enforcement (see also FERC Staff Presentation on Annual Report). The Report includes enforcement priorities for Fiscal Year 2018 and a review of Fiscal Year 2017 activities for each of the OE's divisions.

For Fiscal Year 2018, the OE stated its intention to maintain the same priorities as in previous years, including a focus on (i) fraud and market manipulation, (ii) serious violations of reliability standards, (iii) anticompetitive conduct, and (iv) conduct that threatens market transparency. The OE outlined progress in the following four Divisions:

• The Division of Investigations ("DOI") opened twenty-seven new investigations. Sixteen investigations were closed with no action or through a settlement. Negotiated settlements resulted in the recovery of over $51 million in civil penalties and over $42 million in the disgorgement of alleged profits.