All Civil Penalty Actions - 2025

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement and Regulatory Accounting (Enforcement) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether LADWP violated §§ 401.3 (Data Access) and 403.10 (Information Submittal) of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) Commission-approved Rules of Procedure (ROP) and related Commission regulations (18 C.F.R. §§ 39.2(b) and (d)) by intentionally submitting false, inaccurate, or misleading information to the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) during a 2020 audit. 

LADWP stipulates to the facts set forth in Section II of the Agreement, but neither admits nor denies the alleged violations in Section III of the Agreement.  LADWP agrees to: (a) pay a $350,000 civil penalty to the U.S. Treasury and (b) submit an annual compliance monitoring report to Enforcement for two years with a third year at Enforcement’s discretion. 

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement and Regulatory Accounting (Enforcement) and NorthWestern Corporation d/b/a NorthWestern Energy (NorthWestern).  The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether NorthWestern violated the SPP Tariff and 18 C.F.R. § 35.41(a) and (b) due to its failure to convert its Beethoven wind farm project from a non-dispatchable variable energy resource to a dispatchable variable energy resource by the required tariff deadline. 

NorthWestern stipulates to the facts in Section II of the Agreement but neither admits nor denies the violations described in Section III of the Agreement.  NorthWestern agrees to: (1) pay a civil penalty of $40,000 to the United States Treasury; (2) disgorge $32,000, inclusive of interest, to SPP; and (3) provide compliance monitoring reports to Enforcement as described in the Agreement. 

Cordova Energy Company LLC, Docket No. IN25-8-000, Order Approving Stipulation and Consent Agreement, 192 FERC ¶ 61,205 (Sept. 3, 2025)

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement and Regulatory Accounting (Enforcement) and Cordova Energy Company LLC (Cordova Energy).  The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether Cordova Energy violated the PJM Tariff and Commission regulations through its energy offers and electronic Generating Availability Data System (eGADS) submissions to PJM on behalf of the Cordova Energy Center, a capacity resource in PJM, from January 1, 2020 to September 30, 2023. 

Cordova Energy stipulates to the facts in Section II of the Agreement and admits to the violations in Section III of the Agreement.  Cordova Energy agrees to: (a) pay a civil penalty of $370,000 to the United States Treasury; (b) disgorge $1,964,436, plus interest, to PJM; and (c) be subject to compliance monitoring as described in the Agreement.

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and Skye MS, LLC (Skye).  The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether Skye violated Section 311(a)(2) of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 (NGPA), 15 U.S.C. § 3371(a)(2), by charging fees to transport natural gas on behalf of interstate pipelines without having approved rates or a Statement of Operating Conditions (SOC) on file with the Commission, as required by the Commission’s regulations at 18 C.F.R. § 284.123.

Skye stipulates to the facts in Section II of the Agreement and admits the violations described in Section III of the Agreement.  Skye agrees to: (a) pay a civil penalty of $45,000 to the United States Treasury; and (b) submit an annual compliance monitoring report, with the additional requirement to submit a copy of its quarterly Form No. 549D reports, to Enforcement for one year. 

Enel North America, Inc., Docket No. IN25-5-000, Order Approving Stipulation and Consent Agreement, 192 FERC ¶ 61,048 (July 10, 2025)

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and Enel North America, Inc. (Enel).  The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether Enel violated the SPP Tariff by failing to convert its Chisholm View I wind farm project from a non-dispatchable variable energy resource to a dispatchable variable energy resource by the required tariff deadline. 

Enel stipulates to the facts in Section II of the Agreement, but neither admits nor denies the violation described in Section III of the Agreement.  Enel agrees to: (a) pay a civil penalty of $20,000 to the United States Treasury; (b) implement additional remedial actions as described in the Agreement; and (c) be subject to compliance monitoring as described in the Agreement.

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and Green Plains, Inc. (Green Plains).  The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether Green Plains violated Section 4A of the Natural Gas Act (NGA) and the Commission’s Anti-Manipulation Rule, 18 C.F.R. § 1c.1, by selling physical gas at a loss or negligible profit at MichCon during bidweek in four months in 2023 to benefit its financial positions.   

Green Plains stipulates to the facts in Section II of the Agreement, but neither admits nor denies to the violations in Section III of the Agreement.  Green Plains agrees to: (1) pay a civil penalty of $927,900 to the United States Treasury (2) pay restitution of $19,069, plus interest to five affected companies; (3) implement compliance measures plus compliance monitoring as provided in the Agreement; and (4) institute a trading ban of 2 years at MichCon during bidweek if the Company holds a related financial position that settles on the IFERC MichCon index.

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and GenOn Holdings, Inc. (GenOn).  The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether GenOn violated the PJM Interconnection, LLC (PJM) Open Access Transmission Tariff, PJM’s Amended and Restated Operating Agreement, and Commission regulations by not offering the available capacity of eight units into the PJM energy markets, despite the facilities’ obligations as capacity resources to do so between August 2021 and March 2022. 

GenOn stipulates to the facts set forth in Section II of the Agreement, but neither admits nor denies the alleged violations in Section III of the Agreement.  GenOn agrees to: (a) disgorge $172,306, plus interest, to PJM; (b) pay a civil penalty of $390,000 to the United States Treasury; and (c) be subject to compliance monitoring as provided in the Agreement.

Ampersand Cranberry Lake Hydro, LLC, Docket No. P-9685-036, Order Approving Stipulation and Consent Agreement, 191 FERC ¶ 61,143 (May 19, 2025)

Prior Commission Activity:  Order to Show Cause and Notice of Proposed Penalty, 177 FERC ¶ 61,028  (October 21, 2021); Order Assessing Civil Penalty, 179 FERC ¶ 61,037 (April 21, 2022)

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and Ampersand Cranberry Lake Hydro, LLC (“Ampersand Cranberry”) and its parent company, Ampersand Hydro LLC (collectively “Ampersand”), to address and resolve the Commission’s April 21, 2022 order assessing a civil penalty (“OAP”) in connection with Cranberry Lake Project No. 9685 (“Project”).  The OAP:  (1) concluded that Ampersand Cranberry violated Article 5 of the Project license by failing to retain possession of all Project property covered by the license; and (2) assessed a civil penalty of $600,000 against Ampersand Cranberry.

After the Commission issued the OAP, Ampersand Cranberry provided documents to Enforcement confirming that the financial situation for it and its parent had significantly changed, and they both were insolvent.  Ampersand Cranberry also asked the Commission to terminate the Project license, which it did.

In the Agreement, Ampersand stipulated to the facts in the settlement and admitted that Ampersand Cranberry violated the Project license.  It also agreed to make a payment of $30,000 to Oswegatchie River-Cranberry Reservoir Regulating District Corporation, a New York state municipal corporation and the owner of the dam at which the Project was located, to contribute to repairs and maintenance at the dam.  Finally, Ampersand agreed to make compliance improvements at other related projects.

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and Stronghold Digital Mining Inc. (Stronghold) and Scrubgrass Reclamation Company, L.P. f/k/a Scrubgrass Generating Company LP (Scrubgrass) (collectively, the Companies).  The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether the Companies violated PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (PJM) Tariff or Commission regulations in connection with operating their co-located 85 MW coal refuse plant and behind-the-meter Bitcoin mining facility located in northwestern Pennsylvania during the period of June 2021 to May 2022 (Relevant Period).

The Companies stipulate to the fact section set forth in Section II of the Agreement and admit to the violations in Section III of the Agreement.  The Companies agree to: (a) pay a civil penalty of $741,365 to the United States Treasury; (b) disgorge $678,635 to PJM; and (c) be subject to compliance monitoring as provided in the Agreement.

Total Gas & Power North America, Inc., Total, S.A., Total Gas & Power, Ltd., Aaron Hall, and Therese Tran f/k/a Nguyen, Docket No. IN12-17-000, Order Approving Stipulation and Consent Agreement, 190 FERC ¶ 61,011, revised, 190 FERC ¶ 61,014 (Jan. 10, 2025)

Prior Commission Activity: Order to Show Cause and Notice of Proposed Penalty, 155 FERC ¶ 61,105 (Apr. 28, 2016); Order Establishing Hearing, 176 FERC ¶ 61,026 (July 15, 2021); Order Terminating Hearing and Holding Proceeding in Abeyance, 188 FERC ¶ 61,197 (Sept. 19, 2024)

The Commission issued an Order to Show Cause (OSC) directing TGPNA, Hall, and Tran to show the Commission why they should not be found to have violated section 4A of the Natural Gas Act and the Commission’s Anti-Manipulation Rule, 18 C.F.R. § 1c.1, by engaging in a scheme to manipulate the price of natural gas at four locations in the southwest United States between June 2009 and June 2012.  On July 15, 2021, the Commission set the matter for hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.  On September 19, 2024, the Commission issued an order terminating the hearing and holding the proceeding in abeyance.

On January 8, 2025, the Commission issued an Order approving a Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and TGPNA.  The Agreement resolves all claims and allegations: (1) in Docket No. IN12-17, including the OSC and the matters set for hearing; and (2) the proceeding initiated by TGPNA, Hall, and Tran in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, TotalEnergies Gas & Power N.A., Inc. et al. v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, et al., Case No. 4:22-cv-4318. 

The Commission approved the Stipulation and Consent Agreement (Agreement) between the Office of Enforcement (Enforcement) and Voltus, Inc. (Voltus) and Gregg Dixon (Dixon).  The Agreement resolves Enforcement’s investigation into whether Dixon engaged in a fraudulent scheme in violation of the Commission’s Anti-Manipulation Rule, 18 C.F.R. § 1c.2, and/or caused Voltus to violate the MISO Tariff, by registering demand response resources without those resources’ knowledge or consent and clearing Load-Modifying Resource capacity that would not have performed if the resources were dispatched, during the period from October 1, 2016, and continuing through June 1, 2020. 

Voltus and Dixon stipulate to the facts in Section II of the Agreement, but neither admit nor deny the violations alleged in Section III of the Agreement.  Voltus agrees to (a) disgorge $7,080,543 in revenue; (b) pay a civil penalty of $10,919,457 to the United States Treasury; and (c) provide compliance monitoring reports to Enforcement.  Dixon agrees to pay a civil penalty of $1,000,000 to the United States Treasury and to step down from Voltus’s Board of Directors, along with other restrictions in his role with Voltus going forward.