On November 15, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) proposing to require all utilities with FERC-jurisdictional transmission rates to revise those rates to account for changes caused by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. FERC states the reforms it proposes are intended to ensure that utilities' transmission rates are just and reasonable following enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and meet FERC's tax normalization requirements. The NOPR focuses on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's impact on the accumulated deferred income tax (ADIT) liabilities and assets that are on regulated utilities' books as a result of tax normalization.

On November 15, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued two orders addressing ongoing complaint proceedings involving the base rate of return on equity (ROE) of public utilities.  One order addresses two pending complaints challenging the MISO Transmission Owners’ base ROE (MISO Order)

On October 16, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order in the Coakley v. Bangor Hydro-Electric Company proceeding that could have important implications for determinations of FERC-regulated pipelines' rates of return on equity (ROEs) in pending and future rate proceedings.

On October 16, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order addressing four complaint proceedings involving the New England Transmission Owners' base rate of return on equity (ROE), including the proceeding in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2016 vacated and remanded FERC's Opinion No. 531. The order announces a significantly modified analytical framework for FERC's determinations of ROE in rate cases under the Federal Power Act (FPA).

On September 27, 2018, in Coalition for Competitive Electricity v. Zibelman, No. 17-2654-cv, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that New York’s zero emission credit (ZEC) program, which subsidizes certain in-state nuclear generators, is not preempted by the Federal Power Act (FPA).  The Court also declined to hear the plaintiffs’ dormant Commerce Clause claims, holding that plaintiffs lacked standing to bring them.

On September 13, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that Illinois’s zero emission credit (ZEC) program, which subsidizes certain in-state nuclear generators, is not preempted by the Federal Power Act, nor is it prohibited by the dormant Commerce Clause.  The case, Electric Power Supply Association v. Star, Nos. 17-2433 and 17-2445, affirmed the grant of summary judgment by the District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.