Upcoming Energy Conference Highlights
Through industry presentations and publications as well as through our blog, our energy attorneys are dedicated to helping you stay informed and knowledgeable about legal developments that affect your business.
Visit our website for the latest calendar of events. Upcoming highlights include:
Utah Solar Tour 2011
September 24 – Salt Lake City, UT
Join Stoel Rives attorney Julia Pettit for the Utah Solar Energy Association’s annual Solar Tour. This year’s tour features sites with geothermal heat pumps, small wind, passive solar design, solar shingles, and many energy efficiency design techniques. Stoel Rives is proud to be a Gold sponsor at this event.
In-Depth Tax Planning for Renewable Energy Projects
September 26 – Chicago, IL
Stoel Rives attorneys Greg Jenner, Adam Kobos, Carl Lewis and Kevin Pearson will serve as faculty for this course which will outline tax issues involved in developing renewable energy projects and negotiating tax equity incentives.
REFF West
September 26-27 – San Francisco, CA
Join Duff Bryant, Julia Pettit, John McKinsey and over 400 senior executives and investors as they discuss opportunities for private equity and venture capital in clean tech energy companies. Review in detail the latest technologies moving the industry forward, and examine prospects for rapid renewable growth across the West Coast. Be sure to visit Stoel Rives in the exhibit hall!
National Hydropower Association Pumped Storage Workshop
October 3 – Bellevue, WA
Join Stoel Rives attorneys Bill Holmes, David Benson, Cherise Oram, and Michael O’Connell for this workshop intended for industry professionals with an interest in the development of new pumped storage projects. Bill Holmes will join the discussion panel What Would Energy Storage Asset/Revenue Modeling Look Like? from 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Independent Energy Producers Association Annual Meeting
October 3-5 – South Lake Tahoe, CA
John McKinsey and Seth Hilton will be in attendance at The IEP 30th Annual Meeting, featuring speakers from CPUC, CARB, CEC, and FERC. Stoel Rives is a proud sponsor at this event.
Developing Grid Storage Projects
October 5-6 – Dallas, TX
John Thompson, David Hattery and Bill Holmes are headed to Dallas to explore market opportunities, models, technologies and barriers to energy storage. Bill Holmes will Chair the conference, and instruct the pre-conference workshop, Developing the Business Case for Grid Storage on October 5. Other Stoel Rives presentations on October 5 include John Thompson, presenting Intellectual Property Protection for Grid Storage, and David Hattery, presenting Negotiating the Terms and Navigating the Risk of a Procurement Contract and Other Financial Documents.
Biogas USA West 2011
October 11-12 – San Francisco, CA
Visit with David Benson and Lee Smith, who will join the discussion panel Project Development Optimization on October 11. Be sure to attend the post-conference event reception, proudly hosted by Stoel Rives.
Solar Power International
October 17-20 – Dallas, TX
Stoel Rives attorneys David Benson, Kristen Castaños, Bill Clydesdale, David Hattery, Bill Holmes, Greg Jenner, Morten Lund, Jennifer Martin, Julia Pettit, David Quinby and Howard Susman are headed to Dallas! Julia Pettit will join the Financing Strategies for Utility-Scale Projects discussion panel, and Bill Holmes will moderate the discussion panel, Energy Storage Market and Policy Developments. Visit Stoel Rives at booth #3043 in the exhibit hall!
GEA Geothermal Energy Expo & GRC Annual Meeting
October 23-26 – San Diego, CA
Stoel Rives attorneys John McKinsey and Erin Anderson will be in attendance at the Geothermal Energy Association Energy Expo, co-located with the Geothermal Resources Council Annual Meeting. Erin Anderson will present during the pre-meeting workshop, held on Friday, October 21 from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. While you’re there be sure to visit Stoel Rives in the exhibit hall!
CALIFORNIA RPS: Meeting the Mandate
October 24-25 – Los Angeles, CA
On Monday, October 24, Seth Hilton will present, In-State vs. Out-of-State Renewable Resources to Satisfy RPS Requirements from 10:30-11:15 a.m.
Green Energy M&A Outlook for 2012
November 15-16, 2011 – Santa Clara, CA
Stoel Rives’ Duff Bryant and Ed Einowski, will serve as Summit Co-Chairs, and on Tuesday, November 15, Julia Pettit will moderate the discussion panel, The Green Corporate M&A Landscape, from 8:45 - 9:45 a.m. Stoel Rives is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of this event.
To see the full calendar of events, click here.
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PG&E Unveils its Smart Grid Deployment Plan
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”) released its Smart Grid Deployment Plan which represents a disciplined and integrated approach to using new monitoring and control technology to provide safe, reliable, responsive and environmentally sustainable service to its customers in Northern and Central California.
The 290-page Plan includes future projects that will take advantage of a wide range of advanced communications, computing, sensing and control technologies. PG&E hopes to improve service and reliability, lower customer costs and incorporate more renewable energy onto the grid, all in accordance with the California Public Utility Commission’s decisions and policies implementing California's Smart Grid bill.
The Plan adopts several high-priority objectives to guide PG&E’s Smart Grid investments and initiatives over the next 10 years. Those objectives include the following:
- To engage customers, PG&E will:
- Use the existing SmartMeterTM technology to allow customers not only to view but to modify their energy usage;
- Improve the use of demand response resources in energy and ancillary service markets; and
- Invest in infrastructure to support the electric vehicle market.
- To support Smart Energy Markets, PG&E will:
- Improve its forecasting of market conditions; and
- Integrate renewable resources (primarily wind and solar) on a large scale into the grid.
- To support Smart Utility practices, PG&E will:
- Improve its response to outages;
- Enhance its grid monitoring and control;
- Maintain system voltage levels; and
- Improve substation monitoring.
- PG&E will also continually improve and upgrade the infrastructure supporting the smart grid.
The Plan can be found at:
$6 Million for Short Term Wind Energy Forecasting
Yesterday DOE announced that up to $6 million to be awarded to one or two teams over two years to improve short-term wind energy forecasting, which will enhance the ability of utilities and electricity grid operators to forecast wind power generation.
One to two competitively-selected recipient team(s) will work with DOE and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) to deploy atmospheric measurement systems, and demonstrate the value of these forecasting improvements for electric utility operations. The recipient team(s) will include wind plant operators, wind forecasting and meteorological services companies, electric utility system operators, and research organizations.
DOE will provide $3 million this year - $2 million to NOAA to fund its technical support of the selected projects and $1 million to the selected team. DOE also anticipates providing an additional $3 million in fiscal year 2011 to NOAA and the recipient team(s) to complete the project.
Go to the FedConnect Web site for additional details.
DOE Awards $620 Million for Smart Grid and Energy Storage Projects
Yesterday, DOE announced awards of $620 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) funds for Smart Grid demonstration projects and large-scale energy storage systems. The $620 million is broken down as follows:
• $435 million to support 16 fully integrated, regional Smart Grid demonstrations in 21 states, representing over 50 utilities and electricity organizations with a combined customer base of almost 100 million consumers. The Smart Grid demonstration projects incorporate smart meters, distribution and transmission system monitoring devices and DOE wants the awardees to be role models for the deployment of integrated Smart Grid systems on a broader scale. An additional $1 billion will come from the private sector for a total of $1.6 billion in Smart Grid projects nationally.
• $185 million to fund 16 utility-scale energy storage projects including advanced battery system, flywheels, and compressed air energy systems.
A copy of the DOE’s press release can be found at http://www.energy.gov/news2009/8305.htm
Show Me the Money: DOE To Announce 100 Smart Grid Awards Today
Later today, the Department of Energy will announce the 100 smart grid projects that will receive smart grid stimulus finds. A complete list of the awards should be available later today; three have been announced early:
- Baltimore Gas and Electric: $200,000,000 from DOE and $251,000,000 from other sources
- Sempra Energy: $28,000,000 and $31,000,000 from other sources
- Cobb Electric Membership Corp. (Marietta, GA): $16,000,000 – no information on additional funding requirements
The DOE reported that the quality of the applications were extremely high. The ratio of applications to grants was 4:1 and the funding requested was 5 times the amount that was available.
