Wall Street reform hits the utility business.
Jonathan Gottlieb (jwg@leonard.com(link sends e-mail)) and Nathan Endrud (nathan.endrud@leonard.com(link sends e-mail)) are attorneys in the national energy practice group at the law firm Leonard, Street and Deinard.
Utilities, long accustomed to regulation by FERC and state PUCs, now face extensive regulation of their energy trading activities by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Under the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act—commonly known as Dodd-Frank—signed into law July 21, 2010, energy swap contracts may be subject to new capital, margin, reporting, business conduct, and other requirements that likely will increase their trading costs and create new compliance concerns.