January 2010

2010 may be a cataclysmic year for the tax system. Virtually all the important tax cuts enacted in the Bush Administration expire at the end of this year. In addition, the pending health care reform legislation contains several significant revenue provisions. How will Congress deal with this fundamental shift? Further, the 1603 grant program will…

My partner Tom Wood circulated this preliminary alert this afternoon:

"Earlier today the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) approved interpretive guidance intended to inform public companies how climate change must be taken into account when applying existing disclosure requirements.  Specifically, the SEC’s interpretative guidance highlights the following areas as examples of where climate change …

Stoel Rives would like to congratulate REC Silicon and SolarWorld on their awards of tax credits by the IRS and DOE. These two companies, combined, received over 10 percent of all the tax credits awarded nationwide under section 48C of the tax code.

On Friday, January 8, the Department of Energy awarded to 183 companies…

With 3/5 of the States having Renewable Portfolio Standard in place and the prospect of a Federal RPS, many utilities are seeking to become first time purchasers of the output from wind projects. And utilities with a history of purchasing wind are seeking additional resources. In 2009, the presenters collectively worked on over 40 wind…

The Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced today that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (“NREL”) will invest up to $12 million in total funding ($10 million from funds allocated to NREL under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”)) in four companies – three California and one North Carolina –  to take early stage PV…

The Department of Energy today announced the award of more than $37 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to 17 projects supporting solid-state lighting core research, product development, and domestic manufacturing.

Solid-state lighting, which uses light-emitting diodes (“LEDs”) and organic light-emitting diodes (“OLEDs”) instead of incandescent bulbs, has the potential to be ten…

On January 14, the Geothermal Energy Association will host a one-day Geothermal Energy Finance Forum in New York.  Almost 30 speakers are confirmed for the Forum, including heavy hitters from investment groups and banks, geothermal energy developers, and the DOE and Treasury.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will deliver the keynote address.  My colleague, John McKinsey…

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important ruling clarifying how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) must apply the Mobile-Sierra doctrine.  The Mobile-Sierra doctrine informs how FERC should evaluate whether a contract rate for energy is just and reasonable, and the doctrine provides that FERC’s sole concern should be whether the contract rates being challenged…