The Nickel Report

On October 23, 2025, the Secretary of Energy, pursuant to his authority under section 403 of the Department of Energy Organization Act, directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to initiate rulemaking procedures and consider an advance notice of proposed rulemaking that sets forth potential reforms to expedite and facilitate the interconnection of “large loads,” notably data centers, to the interstate transmission system.

On September 30, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (D.C. Circuit) issued Sierra Club v. FERC, which upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) authorization of a 32-mile pipeline that will supply natural gas to a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) project at which TVA is replacing a coal-fired power unit with a natural gas turbine. The opinion is significant because the D.C. Circuit recognized, for the first time, that its controversial Sabal Trail opinion was abrogated by the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado.

On October 1, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a direct final rule inserting a conditional sunset date into certain regulations in response to Executive Order 14270, “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy.”

On August 29, 2025, the Secretary of Energy directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to rescind the Updated Certificate Policy Statement pursuant to his authority under section 403 of the Department of Energy Reorganization Act.