Final Rule: On October 16, 2008, FERC issued Order No. 717 adopting a series of reforms to the Standards of Conduct for transmission providers that will simplify and strengthen the rules. The new rules are designed to:

1. Foster compliance,
   
2. Facilitate Commission enforcement, and
   
3. Conform the Standards of Conduct to the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation v. FERC .
   
   

The Standards include three primary rules:

1. The "independent functioning rule," that requires transmission function and marketing function employees to operate independently of each other;
   
2. The "no-conduit rule" that prohibits passing transmission function information to marketing function employees; and
   
3. The "transparency rule," that imposes posting requirements to help detect any instances of undue preference.