July 2014

In a first-of-its-kind report announced this morning, Ceres and Clean Edge ranked the nation’s largest electric utilities and local subsidiaries on their renewable energy sales and energy efficiency savings. The report focused on three clean energy indicators: renewable energy sales; cumulative annual energy efficiency; and incremental annual energy efficiency.

Continue Reading New Report Ranks Power Utilities by Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency Performance

Earlier this year, a group of Stoel Rives attorneys traveled to Mexico to assess existing opportunities and pending developments in the Mexican power markets.  Some of the reforms and key trends identified during that trip are now taking shape. See also my blog post “Let the Market Decide: The Third Wave of Energy Investment in Latin America and Caribbean.”

Our work in Mexico included meetings with existing clients, senior partners of a major Mexican law firm, a briefing with a senior Mexican policymaker regarding implementation of the reforms and attendance at the Mexican International Renewable Energy Conference.  Here are some key “take-aways” from these meetings:

  • A Mexican renewable energy market has been successfully launched, with more wind than solar developed to date.
  • A package of “secondary” laws implementing Mexico’s energy reform legislation are pending in the Mexican Congress.
  • The secondary laws will include some form of renewable portfolio standard (e.g., 30% by 2024) that relies on (among other elements) renewable energy certificates.
  • The secondary laws are also expected to launch a wholesale electricity market, a demand response market and other provisions designed to encourage distributed generation.
  • Solar module manufacturers and other stakeholders are concerned about the government’s decision to apply a 15% import tax on electrical “generators” to non-NAFTA solar modules. 

Continue Reading Businesses and Policymakers Confirm Mexican Energy Reforms Are Gaining Momentum

Late last week, the United States Dept. of Energy (“DOE”) Loan Program Office issued a final solicitation for projects seeking loan guarantees titled “Federal Loan Guarantees for Renewable Energy Projects and Efficient Energy Projects.”  Issued under the DOE’s Section 1703 Loan Program (named for Section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005), the Renewable and Efficient Energy Projects solicitation will make up to $2.5 billion in direct loan guarantees* available to “catalytic projects”- i.e., those that will push the commercial deployment of innovative technologies in future projects. Download a copy of the solicitation (PDF). 

We provide a checklist of project eligibility, program requirements and the loan guarantee application process below.Continue Reading Qualification and Application Checklist for New DOE Loan Guarantee Solicitation for Renewable Energy and Efficiency Projects

On July 1, 2014, the City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to create a CPAU-branded Community Solar Program. According to CPAU, "the primary objectives for the program are 1) to help facilitate reaching the City’s target of meeting 4% of its energy needs from local solar energy by 2023 (from 0.7% in 2013)