The Nickel Report

On October 1, 2025, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a direct final rule (Order No. 913) inserting a conditional sunset date into certain of its regulations in response to Executive Order 14270, “Zero-Based Regulatory Budgeting to Unleash American Energy.”

Order No. 913

• E.O. 14270 directed FERC to insert a sunset date into certain regulations in effect as of the date of the E.O. and that were issued, in whole or in part, pursuant to the Federal Power Act, the Natural Gas Act, and the Powerplant and Industrial Fuel Use Act of 1978.
• FERC determined that a regulation was ripe for sunsetting if it did not fit into one or more of the following three categories: (1) regulations that cannot be sunset “consistent with applicable law” because they are necessary to fulfill the Commission’s statutory mandates to ensure reliable, safe, secure, and economically efficient energy for consumers at a reasonable cost; (2) regulations that are part of the Commission’s “regulatory permitting regimes authorized by statute;” or (3) regulations that implement statutes other than the three specific statutes identified in the E.O.
• FERC identified 53 regulations that will sunset one year after Order No. 913’s effective date, which is 45 days after publication of the rule in the Federal Register. In general the regulations were all duplicative, outdated (e.g., regulations governing paper filings which are no longer accepted after FERC moved to electronic filing years ago), or otherwise inconsequential.
• FERC also issued a companion notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR) inviting public comments on the costs and benefits of the regulations referenced in Order No. 913.

Implications

• FERC’s approach is much narrower than many had anticipated.
• Order No. 913 omitted all of the “major” FERC regulations, including those issued under Order Nos. 679, 888, 1000, 2000, and 2023, all of which were reportedly listed as candidates for sunsetting in a draft notice of inquiry that was never publicly released. The substantive impact is thus much lower than it could have been given that each of the 53 regulations slated to sunset are comparatively minor.
• It remains to be seen whether parties will file comments in the NOPR docket arguing that FERC should sunset more of its regulations and challenging FERC’s determination that such regulations could not be sunset “consistent with applicable law.”
• At a more general level, the E.O. and Order No. 913 are significant because they highlight the changing relationship between the Executive and FERC, which has traditionally functioned as an “independent agency” not subject to direct presidential control. Although the Commission attempts to walk a line between acknowledging that Order No. 913’s promulgation is attributable to “[t]he President [directing] the Commission to issue a zero-based regulating rule” while maintaining its independent policy prerogative by concluding that it “has further determined, based on its independent policy judgment” that sunsetting certain regulations is appropriate, Order No. 913 at PP 9-10, it is notable as another of several recent examples of the Commission unanimously deciding to initiate regulatory action at the behest of an executive directive.

A copy of Order No. 913 is available here.