A FERC judge ruled that Shell and Iberdrola  saddled California consumers with $1.1 billion in excess energy costs at the height of the Western Energy Crisis.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week sided with FERC in the latest chapter of the long-running legal dispute over the California-West Coast energy crisis of 2000-2001.

Former FERC regulators who were in the middle of many of the electric industry’s watershed events of the past two decades reminisced — and expressed regrets for paths not chosen.

The coal industry lobby that sank Ron Binz’ FERC nomination will have a much harder time pinning the “war on coal” label on President Obama’s new choice, Norman Bay. But that doesn’t necessarily mean clear sailing.

Former chairs gave a primer on the last 36 years of federal energy policy Thursday as FERC celebrated its 1000th open meeting.