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FERC Proposes NEPA Revisions to Streamline Air Quality Analyses and Accelerate Natural Gas Projects

LCG, October 16, 2026--The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced on Thursday its new proposal to revise and accelerate its review of air quality effects for proposed natural gas projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The draft policy statement highlights revisions designed to (i) avoid unnecessary delays and duplicative analysis and (ii) deliver greater regulatory certainty and a streamlined path forward for project applicants.

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AEP Announces 702-MW Bloom Fuel Cell Project to Serve Google in Wyoming

LCG, October 14, 2026--American Electric Power (AEP) today announced plans for a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Google, under which AEP will invest approximately $4 billion to advance a new 702-MW fuel cell generation project located near Cheyenne, Wyoming. Google will acquire power from Cheyenne Fuel Cell, LLC, which is approximately 92 percent owned and controlled by AEP and 8 percent owned by funds advised by Basalt Infrastructure Partners, LLP. AEP and its partners plan to start construction this year and to be fully operational by the end of 2028.

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Industry News

Mirant Produced Extra Energy With ISO Support

LCG, May 24, 2002--In response to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order to energy trading companies to report potentially manipulative trading practices, Mirant Corp. said it had practiced at least one of the strategies in California, as outlined in an internal Enron memo.

A filing by the company with the FERC said that the one strategy it had clearly engaged in was to produce at levels above forecast demand. Documents said Mirant had the support of the California Independent System Operator, manager of the state's power grid, in doing so. A power market consultant who was quoted in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Robert McCullough, said Mirant's justification did not change the "Fat Boy" strategy's being "a violation of the rules, but they have a good reason."

This week, a California state senator, Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana), said he had uncovered a practice by the ISO of buying more power than was needed to maintain reserve margins, anticipating non-deliveries by scheduled generators. According to Mirant, the ISO repeatedly encouraged the company to "fake the rules" by creating false demand and extra, real supply in order to ensure reliability. Dunn had concluded before Mirant's filing that the ISO caused the state to sell extra power it did not need at a loss.

Mirant raised another possibility, but said it did not have sufficient records to determine "with certainty," that it had bought power within California cheaply and sold the power outside the state at higher prices, benefitting from state price caps.

Of 510 days covered by FERC's data request, the company identified one during which it practiced a "variation" of megawatt laundering, in which a company sells power outside the state, to be bought back and sold within California. Enron referred to such a practice with the reference "Ricochet." According to McCullough, Mirant appeared forthright in asserting that this was a one-time occurence.
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