$150 Million to Fund ARPA-E Transformation Energy R&D Projects
On April 27, 2009, the first Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) under the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) was announced offering up to $150 million to fund transformation energy research and development projects. These funds are part of the $400 million appropriated to ARPA-E under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Individual awards of $500,000 to $20 million are available to eligible projects. This FOA is aimed at projects that have a well-formed R&D plan that can make a significant contribution towards enhancing the economic and energy security of the United States by reducing imported energy, reducing energy-related gases, including GHG, and improving energy efficiency.
To be eligible, an interested applicant must submit a concept paper to ARPA-E that briefly outlines the technical concept for its project between May 12 and June 2. Early submission is strongly encouraged. Successful applicants will then be asked to submit full applications. More information on this FOA is available at www.grants.gov.
2009 Utah Legislation Sets Stage for More Renewable Energy in Utah
Legislators recently adopted legislation aimed at helping Utah stay competitive with surrounding states in the fast growing national clean energy movement. Five (5) bills dealing with renewable energy and energy efficiency passed with strong bi-partisan support. Three (3) resolutions, while non-binding, send strong messages to local governments and utilities that the legislature encourages, and wants to remove barriers to, renewable energy and energy efficiency across all sectors. The success of the 2009 legislative session indicate that renewable energy will play critical roles in Utah’s future.
House Bill 430 - Economic Development Incentives for Alternative Energy Projects, is designed to attract new clean energy industries and projects to Utah. The bill allows the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED) to establish energy development zones and offer tax credits to companies and projects located in those zones.
Senate Bill 76 SO3- Energy Amendments, address the barriers to renewable energy transmission by creating a political subdivision of the State tasked with the development of a master plan for renewable energy production and transmission infrastructure. This subdivision will have the ability to apply for and seek out federal grants, as well as bonding authority to pay for transmission lines for renewable energy.
Senate Joint Resolution 1 S02 Renewable Energy System, urges the Utah State Energy Program and municipal governments to collaborate on the development of model renewable energy ordinances to streamline the development process at the local government level.
Senate Joint Resolution 10 - Alternative Training Center, recognizes the need to train the growing clean energy workforce in Utah. The bill supports the establishment of an Alternative Energy Training Center in Beaver County, an area with high concentration of existing, upcoming and potential renewable energy development.
House Joint Resolution 9 - Effective Energy Efficiency and Utility Demand Side Management, recognizes energy efficiency as a priority resource and urges state and local governments and utilities to promote and encourage all available cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation, setting voluntary energy savings goals for Rocky Mountain Power and Questar Gas and expresses support for regulatory mechanisms that remove disincentives to utility energy efficiency and conservation.
Tax and Project Finance Structuring Issues for Renewable Energy Projects
The key ingredient to any successful renewable energy project is financing. A central element related to finance is the maximum use of tax benefits. Please join me and my colleagues as we explore a range of issues that can impact the viability of a project's financing, including: alternative legal structures, general costs and economics, debt vs. equity financing, and efficient use and monetization of tax and other governmental incentives. We will address the impact of the current economy on these matters, including issues relating to availability, pricing, and structure. We will also address the impact on these matters arising from recent changes in tax incentives enacted by Congress in the stimulus legislation.
When: 4/27/2009, 2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Where: EUCI Webinar
You can also follow #EUCI for a live Twitter feed of the webinar.
For more information and registration visit:
www.euci.com/web_conferences/0409-re-tax/index.php
Clean Energy Projects To Become Eligible for Washington State's Energy Freedom Program
Washington State's legislature has passed a bill expanding the Energy Freedom Program and the uses to which the Energy Freedom Account can be put. Previously, funds from the Energy Freedom Account could be applied to biofuels projects only, and appropriations from the Energy Freedom Account to a separate account - the Green Energy Incentive Account - could be used solely to develop alternative fuels fueling stations and related projects. The bill extends the Program to clean energy projects, energy efficiency and energy technologies and establishes a Energy Recovery Account as another means of funding innovative renewable energy projects through loans or grants. A more detailed Client Alert will be issued once Governor Gregoire signs the bill.
MMS Finalizes Regulations for Renewable Energy Projects on the OCS
The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has issued its final regulations for renewable energy projects on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Stoel Rives attorneys are reviewing the 579-page rule now and will provide further updates soon!
Client Alert - FERC and MMS Memorandum of Understanding on OCS Energy Development
As promised in a previous blog entry discussing the recently signed MOU between FERC and MMS regarding energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf, I'm attaching a link to the client alert prepared by my colleague, Cherise Oram, on the subject. Please contact us with any questions!
U.S. EPA Holds Public Hearings in California on Proposed Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule
U.S. EPA is holding a public hearing in Sacramento, California today on the agency's proposed rule on mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting. EPA held public hearings on the new rule in the Washington D.C. area earlier this month.
Over 13,000 facilities nationwide, accounting for about 85% to 90% of GHGs emitted in the U.S., will be required to report their emissions under the rule. Reporting will largely be done on a facility-level, with the threshold for mandatory annual reporting based on facility capacity, rather than emissions. Where a capacity threshold is not feasible or appropriate, facilities that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of GHGs per year will be required to submit annual emissions reports. Data collection will begin January 2010, the first reports due in March 2011. EPA estimates that the cost to all industries to comply with the new reporting requirements would be $160 million in the first year, and $127 million annually in subsequent years.
The rule was published in the Federal Register on April 10, and comments on the rule are due to EPA no later than June 9, 2009.
Green Power Express Receives Green Light from FERC
On April 10, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a request for various transmission infrastructure investment incentives submitted by Green Power Express LP (GPE), a transmission-only partnership that proposes to build a 765 kV "green superhighway" consisting of three interconnected loops in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. GPE's proposal will also extend radially into Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana, making use of existing substations in some locations and constructing high voltage substations in others. In total, the project will include approximately 3,000 miles of transmission lines that reach 12,000 MW of wind and stored energy. GPE estimates the project's cost at $10-12 billion and hopes the project will be in service in 2020.
FERC's approved the following (non-exhaustive) key incentives that reduce GPE's exposure to risk in moving the project forward.
Abandoned Plant. FERC granted GPE's request to recover prudently incurred expenses if the project is abandoned for reasons outside of GPE's control. FERC stated that the recovery of abadonment costs is a means for encouraging transmission development, reducing the risk that GPE's investors may lose their entire investment.
Regulatory Asset. FERC will allow GPE to create initial and subsequent vintage regulatory assets in order to defer pre-construction, development, and start-up costs until GPE has customers from which it may later recover those costs. Such cost deferral will also help GPE attract financiers.
Construction Work in Progress. FERC approved GPE's request to include 100 percent of construction work in progress in its revenue requirement, allowing GPE to service its debt and reduce borrowing over the project's development--something that would otherwise be difficult for a $10-12 billion project with a 2020 in-service date.
The incentives granted to GPE, as well as other recent changes to FERC's transmission policies, show that the agency is becoming increasingly serious about spurring transmission development forward. If we are to reach the 62 GW of wind currently in the Midwest ISO interconnection queue, as well as other renewable resources elsewhere, transmission developers will need creative regulatory solutions to help attract financiers and gain firm commitments from generation developers. FERC continues to take positive steps forward.
Upcoming Webinar: Four Primary Ways the Stimulus Bill will Impact the U.S. Wind & Biofuels Industries
Biofuels Journal and Wind Today Magazine are hosting this free webinar on April 14, 2009 at 2 p.m. Central Time.
Please join me and my colleague, Graham Noyes, as we discuss the Obama Administration’s economic stimulus package and how it will impact the wind and biofuels industries.
REGISTER HERE: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/244944960
There will also be a live Twitter feed available at #stimulusbill
Topics covered include:
• Stimulus Grants and the DOE Loan Guarantee Program - the Administration has provided $2.5 billion in grants for R&D and Demonstration projects; expanded the Loan Guarantee Program by $5 billion; as well as promised to streamline the application processes and speed the release of funds to biofuels plants and other projects under these programs.
• The Production Tax Credit vs. the Investment Tax Credit - review of the varying incentive programs available for wind energy projects.
• Grants In Lieu of Tax Credits - consideration of when grants will provide the highest value for projects.
• The Pending Smart Grid and how this is likely to impact the rapidly growing but transmission constrained wind industry in the U.S.
FERC and MMS Reach Agreement on Offshore Renewable Energy
Today, Department of Interior Secretary Salazar and FERC Chairman Wellinghoff signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) clarifying each agency’s jurisdictional responsibilities for siting renewable energy on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The MOA should clear the way for wind, wave, tidal, ocean current, and solar energy projects on the OCS. My colleagues, including Cherise Oram, are reviewing the MOA now, and will provide more details and analysis shortly!
Interior Highlights Opportunities for Renewable Energy Development on OCS
The U.S. Department of Interior recently published a report highlighting the information currently available regarding the nature and scope of energy resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), including renewable energy. The report is a result of the new administration's approach to developing energy resources on the OCS, and will serve as background information for four regional meetings that Secretary Salazar is hosting in April to review the findings of the report and gather input from all interested parties on whether, where, and how the U.S. will develop conventional and renewable energy resources on the OCS. The report also identifies information gaps regarding available data on and environmental issues connected with energy development on the OCS. The report's three main sections are: (1) renewable energy resources, (2) oil and gas resources, and (3) sensitive environmental areas and resources.
President Obama Clamps Down on Lobbyists and First Amendment
On March 20th, President Obama issued a directive to the heads of executive branch departments and agencies. The directive is aimed at achieving the laudable goal of ensuring merit based decision-making for grants and other forms of stimulus funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (usually referred to as the Stimulus Bill). It seems that while candidate Obama promised repeatedly during his campaign to limit the influence of lobbyists in Washington DC, the passage of the Stimulus Bill has sent record numbers of lobbyists to D.C. to scramble for federal dollars.
In apparent response to this, President Obama has singled out registered lobbyists and regulated their contacts with the executive branch. His directive provides that “executive department or agency officials shall not consider the view of a lobbyist registered under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995, concerning particular projects, applications, or applicants for funding under the Recovery Act unless such views are in writing.” Officials are directed to inquire regarding the possible presence of registered lobbyists both upon the scheduling and commencement of phone calls and in-person conversations “with any person or entity concerning particular projects, applications, or applicants for funding under the Recovery Act.” If any registered lobbyists are detected, the directive forbids them from attending the meeting or participating in the phone call.
Not surprisingly, the American League of Lobbyists (ALL) has objected to the Obama Administrations restrictions. In a demonstration that politics does indeed sometimes make strange bedfellow, ALL has been joined by the ACLU and the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). In a letter to the President released Tuesday, these three groups requested that President Obama rescind the constitutionally offensive provisions of the directive immediately.
As tempting a political target as they may be, registered lobbyists have a place in our political system and rights under our Constitution. The President should heed the groups’ advice and tailor his directive to enable transparency while not muzzling any voices--including those paid to advocate.
