Expanding the FERC's jurisdiction to review utility mergers. [FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)]
Recently, there has been heavy criticism of the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) regulation of public utility holding companies under the Public Utilities Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA). As a result of this criticism, Senator Dale Bumpers of Arkansas has introduced legislation (currently S.544) to transfer all regulatory oversight of PUHCA -- without modification to the existing statutory language -- from the SEC to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). This article presents one argument in favor of that transfer. First, this article presents the relevant analytical frameworks for examining horizontal and affiliate consolidations and explains why it is appropriate to apply strict scrutiny to the former and light scrutiny to the latter. Second, this article examines the dual regulatory framework for public utilities Congress established in the 1930s. This article then examines the analysis the SEC applies to horizontal intercorporate holding company mergers and that the FERC applies to affiliate mergers under FPA section 203. Next, the article presents a case study of the merger between Iowa Public Service Company and Iowa Power Company to illustrate how utilities may use both Congress' dual regulatory scheme and economic theory to escape strict agency review of the effect of a proposed merger. Finally, this article concludes that the best way to close this gap is to pass S.544 and transfer regulatory authority of PUHCA from the SEC to the FERC.
- OSTI ID:
- 5614535
- Journal Information:
- Energy Law Journal; (United States), Journal Name: Energy Law Journal; (United States) Vol. 14:2; ISSN 0270-9163; ISSN ELJOEA
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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