FERC 2016 Report on Enforcement

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's enforcement program has shown consistency in recent years, according to a presentation by Office of Enforcement staff to the Commissioners.  On November 17, 2016, the Commission's Office of Enforcement released its 2016 Report on Enforcement.  This report, along with a presentation and two related white papers, provides insight into Commission staff’s views as well as emerging trends related to manipulation of FERC-jurisdictional markets.

Federal law charges the Commission with enforcing a variety of laws and regulations pertaining to utilities and energy matters.  These and related Commission policies include prohibitions on market manipulation.  Within the Commission, its Office of Enforcement houses various functions related to enforcing anti-market manipulation.

In its tenth annual Report on Enforcement, the Office of Enforcement provides information on the activities of all four OE Divisions: Analytics and Surveillance, Audits and Accounting, Energy Market Oversight, and Investigations.

As described in a related presentation by staff to the Commission:

A major theme reflected in this year’s Annual Report is the consistency in the Commission’s enforcement program. OE’s priorities have not changed over the past few years. We have focused, and will continue to focus, on four distinct areas: (1) fraud and market manipulation; (2) serious violations of the Reliability Standards; (3) anticompetitive conduct; and (4) conduct that threatens transparency in regulated markets.

Staff also published two white papers covering compliance practices and enforcement efforts:

• White Paper on Effective Energy Trading Compliance Practices
  
• White Paper on Anti-Market Manipulation Enforcement Efforts Ten Years After EPAct