Regulatory Litigation

On March 18, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) approved, with modifications, certain Violation Severity Level (VSL) assignments for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) reliability standards as proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).[1]  The Commission also provided additional guidance for determining appropriate VSLs in the context of requirements in the cyber security reliability standards.

As part of its initiative to strengthen enforcement of energy efficiency standards, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on December 9, 2009 that it will give manufacturers a 30-day grace period—ending on January 8, 2010—to file or update certifications of compliance with energy efficiency standards for appliances.  After that date, DOE will begin more aggressively enforcing the certification requirements.