$37 mn US for Clean Energy in New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson and the New Mexico Office of Recovery and Reinvestment have announced $37 million US funding from the U.S. DOE through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for New Mexico's State Energy Program, the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, and the Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program.
The initial Request for Application (RFA) solicits applications for demonstration projects that will generate renewable energy, reduce reliance on imported energy, increase energy efficiency, and improve electricity and fuel supply reliability. These projects may include use of renewable energy and clean-burning transportation fuels.
For the State Energy Program funding under this RFA, only public entities including schools (K-12), local governments, state agencies, colleges and universities, Indian tribes and pueblos are eligible to apply and compete, although they may subcontract all or part of the work required for their projects. Under the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, only municipalities and counties are eligible to compete for funding. Grants will range from $50,000 to $500,000. The deadline for applications is June 26, 2009, with a webinar to help guide potential applicants through the application process hosted by the Energy Conservation and Management Division on Monday, June 1, 2009.
Additional public and private sector funding opportunities will be available through RFAs and Requests for Proposals that will be issued later this summer.
LLC Law Monitor
Renewable energy developers often use limited liability companies (LLCs) as project companies and to form entities for other purposes. My partner Doug Batey has started a new law blog that will likely be helpful to those charged with setting up, understand and maintaining these LLCs. Here's today's announcement:
Stoel Rives LLP is pleased to introduce its new LLC law blog, LLC Law Monitor, at www.llclawmonitor.com
The LLC Law Monitor focuses on the rapidly developing laws affecting limited liability companies. LLCs are a popular form of business entity and are a relatively new development in the law. LLC statutes vary from state to state, and cases of first impression are being decided by state courts every month.
In light of this new and evolving legal environment, Stoel Rives has launched LLC Law Monitor to provide business executives, attorneys, accountants and other professionals engaged in or working with LLCs with timely updates and insights on the new and developing laws shaping this burgeoning business sector.
LLC Law Monitorauthor Douglas L. Batey has nearly 30 years of experience advising executives on corporate and business legal matters. His experience includes counseling clients in a wide range of industries on company formation, mergers and acquisitions, and general corporate governance matters.
We hope that you will find the LLC Law Monitor helpful.
|
Douglas L. Batey |
Department of Energy Funds Research for Hydropower
On Friday, May 15th, The Department of Energy amended its April 15th Funding Opportunity Announcement, adding new research areas eligible for receipt of grants from the $40 million appropriated by Congress to investigate advanced water power energy generation technologies. All of the added categories are aimed at funding hydropower related research with the following goals:
Continue Reading...Net Metering Changes in Utah - A Victory for Renewable Energy in Utah
The following changes to Rocky Mountain Power’s (RMP) Net Metering Tariff went into effect April 1, 2009, based on the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) ruling in February 12, 2009:
- Total System Capacity set at 20% of RMP’s 2007 peak demand (equivalent to 923,000 kW or 923 MW).
- All Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) are owned by the customer, or as otherwise designated by the customer.
- Residential customers will receive kilowatt-hour credits for any excess generation they produce.
- Large commercial and industrial customers with demand charges that generate excess generation will be given a choice between:
- Valuing excess generation at an avoided cost based rate (schedule 37), available as a choice between a blended (yearly average) rate or seasonally differentiated rates,
-- OR -- - Valuing excess generation at an alternative rate calculated by dividing Rocky Mountain Power’s Utah revenue per schedule (applicable to the net metering customer) by the schedule’s corresponding kilowatt-hours usage data from the previous year’s FERC Form No. 1.
- Valuing excess generation at an avoided cost based rate (schedule 37), available as a choice between a blended (yearly average) rate or seasonally differentiated rates,
- Annual Net Metering Report Requirements: The PSC directs RMP to submit an annual net metering report that includes the number of Utah net metering installations, the respective individual capacity of each installation, the total capacity of the Utah customer-generation as of the end of the annualized billing period, and any unforeseen problems or barriers in the tariff, and any other relevant measure showing how close the program is to the designated net metering cap.
- Customer classification: The PSC determined that the following customer classes will be used to implement the aforementioned changes:
- Residential: all residential schedules
- Small Commercial: Schedule No. 23 and Schedule No. 23B – General Service – Demand Time-of-Day – Distribution Voltage
- Large Commercial: Schedules Nos. 6, 6A – General Service – Energy Time-of-Day Option, 6B – General Service – Demand Time-of-Day Option, Schedule 8, and Schedule No. 10 – Irrigation and Soil Drainage Pumping Power Service
- Minimum Bill Fee: The PSC found it reasonable to apply the minimum bill to net metering customers who provide net excess generation.
DSIRE launches new solar website
DSIRE SOLAR is the latest offering by the DSIRE project – it provides solar-specific policy information to consumers, policy makers, program administrators, the solar industry and other stakeholders. The new DSIRE SOLAR site still has all the features of the DSIRE site, including the interactive US map, but now displays solar incentives only. Users can also select PV or solar thermal or both (incentives) when using the state-by-state map.
The solar policy guide is another key feature, condenses information like conference papers in one place, giving users an overview of policy options promoting solar, as well as status and trends, examples, resources, and links.
Click here to access the DSIRE SOLAR site.
Doing Business with Indian Tribes
My colleagues Michael O'Connell and Stephen Kelly, both of whom have a great deal of experience representing clients engaged in energy and natural resources transactions with Indian tribes, are putting on a webinar entitled "Doing Business with Indian Tribes." Since the best private lands are often already spoken for, renewable energy developers are looking more and more at developing projects on public lands and Tribal lands. The Webinar that Mike and Steve are presenting will discuss doing business with tribes generally, but their presentation will be relevant to those seeking to develop renewable energy projects in partnership with Indian tribes or on tribal lands.
Details are as follows:
Please join Stoel Rives attorneys Michael O’Connell and Stephen Kelly for a webinar on Doing Business with Indian Tribes on Wednesday, June 10, 2009. They will conduct a lively, interactive program that will cover:
There are over 550 federally recognized Indian tribes. Indian tribes engage in a broad range of business transactions governed by a complex array of federal, tribal and state laws. Stoel Rives is pleased to offer a webinar that will offer you tools to recognize the unique legal status of Indian tribes and how it affects business transactions with Indian tribes.
- Tribes and tribal business structures
- Contracting, sovereign immunity, and dispute resolution
- Leases, easements, and other agreements for use of tribal land
- Tribal and federal environmental reviews and approvals
- Taxation issues
|
When: |
Wednesday, June 10, 2009 |
|
|
Complimentary (lunch included) |
|
|
Or at your computer. Information on how to access the webinar will be provide to those who register. |
|
Parking: |
We will validate parking for most nearby parking garages. |
|
RSVP: |
Space is limited! Register online by Monday, June 8. |
Washington's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Comprehensive Application
On May 11, the Washington Department of Community, Trade, and Economic Development (“CTED”) filed an application with the United States Department of Energy to receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) funds for Washington’s State Energy Program (“SEP”). The application contains funding for renewable energy, energy efficiency, and farm energy assessments. Once the SEP is approved, funding will commence through CTED with advice from the Clean Energy Leadership Council.
Continue Reading...$50 Million Allocated to Support Algae Research
As part of the DOE’s announcement last week to provide $786.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate advanced biofuels research and development, the DOE allocated $50 million to create an algae biofuels consortium to accelerate demonstration of algae biofuels. As many companies are working toward the commercialization of algae biofuels, this infusion of money into research and development will help to promote commercially feasible algae biofuels production.
Additionally, Prize Capital, LLC has announced the creation of a $10 million algae fuel prize that is focused on advanced algae biofuels technologies. While the final details of the competition have not been released, planning is underway.
Client Alert: Summary of Final MMS Regulations on OCS Leasing
As promised in a recent blog entry, we've issued a client alert providing a detailed analysis of the final Minerals Management Service (MMS) regulations governing leases for energy production on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), including wind and ocean energy. Please contact us with any questions!
President Obama Directs USDA to Promote and Expand Biofuels
On, May 5, 2009, President Obama announced federal efforts to increase investment and use of advanced biofuels. The President signed a Presidential Directive establishing the Biofuels Interagency Working Group, ordering the Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) to implement financing opportunities from the Food Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 (“FCEA”), and announcing additional Recovery Act funds for renewable fuel projects.
The Biofuels Interagency Working Group will be co-chaired by the Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Biofuels Interagency Working Group will coordinate existing policies and identify new policies to support the development of sustainable next-generation biofuels production.
President Obama has directed the USDA to immediately begin restructuring existing renewable fuels investments in order to preserve industry employment and develop a comprehensive approach to accelerate the production of American biofuels. Further, the USDA has 30 days to begin deployment of renewable energy financing opportunities from the FCEA. Financing opportunities under the FCEA include loan guarantees and grants for research, development, construction and retrofitting of demonstration and commercial scale biorefineries.
President Obama also announced that $786.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (for more information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act please see Show Me the Money: The Law of the Stimulus) will be used to expand commercial biorefineries and jumpstart advanced biofuels research and development. The money will be divided as follows:
- $480 million for integrated pilot and demonstration scale biorefinery projects
- $176.5 million for commercial-scale biorefinery projects
- $110 million for fundamental research
- $20 million for ethanol research
AWEA, Chicago and Law of Wind 5th ed
Greetings from the Windy City, where the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) is expecting a record conference attendance of around 17,000 people. A large contingent of Stoel Rives wind attorneys are attending the AWEA wind energy conference in Chicago this week, May 4 to May 8. My partner Ed Einowski will be speaking about co-location of wind projects with other energy projects, Katie Roek is speaking about offshore wind development on both coasts and the Great Lakes, and I'll be presenting on interesting new issues affecting power purchase agreements.
We also have copies of our newest edition of Law of Wind, which we've updated through April 2009. Our team of wind energy lawyers have updated all of the chapters and added several new ones, including chapters on securities law and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. We'll be at Booth 3148 if you'd like to stop by and pick one up. And, of course, you can also download a copy of the Law of Wind (5th edition) from our website.
Although we've historically updated our Law of Wind once a year right before the AWEA annual conference, we are planning to do two editions this year to keep up with a raft of new developments affecting wind energy. The 6th edition will feature new chapters on offshore wind energy and build transfer arrangements.
"Show Me The Money"
We announce the publication of a guide to federal clean energy funding opportunities under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”). Titled “Show Me The Money,” the guide reviews the various programs and potential sources of federal funding for clean energy companies and projects. The guide addresses funding opportunities under the ARRA for each of the following energy industry areas: wind, solar, biofuels, biomass, smart grid, transmission, geothermal, marine and hydrokinetic, green building, energy efficiency, advanced battery and fuel cell technology, clean energy equipment manufacturing, green vehicles and clean coal. The guide also contains information about some of the funding opportunities and updates at the federal and state level which we will continue to track closely.
