FERC attempts to reform competitive markets.
It’s fascinating and bizarre—a strange curiosity or shocking oddity that just can’t be explained, but may be true. It doesn’t reach the level of strangeness of the Elephant Man, or instill fear or marvel as in the stories of the Curse of the Egyptian Mummy or the lost city of Atlantis, respectively.
But the fact that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) actually released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANOPR) in late June, on competitive markets of all subjects, has many in disbelief, including this correspondent.
At a commission meeting, even FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher remarked at the oddness: “I mean, we are making proposals and we’re also seeking comments, so I think an ANOPR is an unusual thing. The last ANOPR I can recall the commission issuing was Bastille Day of 2000, when the commission issued an ANOPR on OASIS II, and that was the last.” To which Commissioner Marc Spitzer quipped: “Mr. Chairman, it’s not Bastille Day, so no heads will roll.”