Tag Archives: funding

Who funds FERC?

May 4, 2014Economy, FERC, Lawaccountability, Commerce and Energy, Congress, Economy, Energy and Power, Ethics, FERC, fossil fuels, funding, H.R. 6, independence, John S. Quarterman, Law, ordinance, oversight, regulation, regulatory capture, Sabal Trail Transmission, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

If you guessed the taxpayers, as I did, nope. On FERC’s own About FERC web page:

The Commission is funded through costs recovered by the fees and annual charges from the industries it regulates.

To make it even richer, the sentence before that reads:

There is no review of FERC decisions by the President or Congress, maintaining FERC’s independence as a regulatory agency, and providing for fair and unbiased decisions.

But FERC’s web page says nothing about FERC’s independence from the industries it regulates.

Here’s Investopedia’s definition of regulatory capture:

Regulatory capture happens when a regulatory agency, formed to act in the public’s interest, eventually acts in ways that benefit the industry it is supposed to be regulating, rather than the public.

Maybe that’s why Continue reading Who funds FERC? →

How does this pipeline benefit the public by taking land from the public?

February 5, 2014Economy, FERC, Hazards, Law, Safetycontract, Economy, eminent domain, FERC, funding, Hazards, jobs, John S. Quarterman, Law, Natural Gas Act, private property, Safety, SpectraBusters, taking, unionJohn S. Quarterman

Received Sunday on Stranded fossil fuel assets. -jsq

Governmental eminent domain powers have been growing for more than 115 years, to the point where courts have upheld the taking of property from one private owner for the purpose of transferring it to another, as long as it benefits the public. The Natural Gas Act delegates eminent domain powers to the pipeline companies, subject to court approval. However there’s no mechanism in place to dispute the taking. Things to consider:

How does this benefit the public by taking land from the public?
Is there an irrefutable study that shows this act of taking of private land is justifiable by needs other than capitalistic greed?
Also, what about the mineral rights of the property?
How many “pipes” or infrastructures can the Pipeline Company sell or lease access to other entities without any future benefits paid to the original land owners?
Are all Continue reading How does this pipeline benefit the public by taking land from the public? →