STOEL RIVES PUBLISHES UPDATED EDITION OF SOLAR ENERGY LAW GUIDE
The Stoel Rives Energy Development group is proud to announce the publication of the third edition of Lex Helius: The Law of Solar Energy.
In the wake of recent state and federal policies and incentives, investment in solar energy has become increasingly competitive. Accordingly, our energy team desires to provide our readers with the most up-to-date solar market insights. The authors, contributors and editors of Lex Helius have done just that.
Lex Helius analyzes critical issues that solar power project developers confront during the development process, including real property acquisition, regulatory and permitting requirements, interconnection issues, power purchase agreements, financing, and construction contracting. The guide also discusses federal and state incentives available to solar projects, financing structures, market conditions, and sale and transfer of renewable energy credits.
The new edition of Lex Helius will be available at the Stoel Rives booth (#3043) at the Solar Power International 2011 conference in Dallas, October 17-20, 2011.
The guide can also be downloaded, along with the entire Stoel Rives “Law of” library at www.stoel.com/lawofseries.
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Upcoming Energy Conference Highlights
Through industry presentations and publications, 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:
Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES): Lessons Learned from Natural Gas Tolling
July 21 – WEBINAR
Stoel Rives Partners Bill Holmes, Ed Einowski and Marcus Wood will serve as the exclusive faculty this 90-minute webinar, part of the “Law of Renewable Energy Series” presented by Stoel Rives and EUCI.
Renewable Energy in the Pacific Northwest
August 4-5 – Seattle, WA
Join partners Steve Hall, Tim McMahan (conference co-chair) and Michael O'Connell for sessions on "Getting Renewable Power to Market," “Working with Tribes: Lessons from Case Studies in Their Roles as Developers and Commercial Partners,” and “Best Practices for Engaging with Leasing and Permitting Agencies,” among others.
GEA National Geothermal Summit
August 16-17 – Reno, NV
Attorneys John McKinsey, Jennie Bricker, Tami Boeck, Michael O'Connell and Allison Smith are heading to Reno, Nevada for the first annual National Geothermal Summit, presented by the Geothermal Energy Association. Stoel Rives is proud to be a Gold Sponsor at this event.
Renewable Energy in the Midwest States: New Policy, Business and Legal Developments
August 25-26 – Minneapolis, MN
Join Minneapolis-based partners Mark Hanson and Greg Jenner for sessions on "Special Legal Issues for Biofuels Development," and "Commercialization and Financing Structures: What Will Future Deals Look Like?"
National Hydropower Association Alaska Regional Meeting
August 30-31 – Girdwood, AK
Greg Jenner will speak on tax incentives for development of renewable energy, development alternatives, and DOE funding.
Utility Scale Solar Summit 2011
September 13-15 – San Diego, CA
Stoel Rives is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor at this Infocast event, and serve as Chair of the “Solar Project Development Briefing.” Join attorneys Howard Susman, Morten Lund, Greg Jenner, Ed Einowski, Jennifer Martin, David Quinby and Seth Hilton in sunny San Diego. We are pleased to offer a 15% registration discount, use code 115321.
RETECH 2011
September 20-22 – Washington, DC
Visit Stoel partners Bill Holmes, Ed Einowski and Graham Noyes at booth #819 in the Exhibit Hall. We’ll also be participating in sessions covering wind and energy storage topics.
You’ll see Stoel Rives sponsoring and/or speaking at Turbines, Towers & Vessels in Rhode Island, Northwest & Intermountain Power Producers Coalition (NIPPC) Annual Meeting in Washington, Transmission West Summit in San Diego, ACORE’s REFF West in San Francisco, CanWEA Annual Conference in Vancouver, Solar Power International in Dallas, and many more this fall.
To see the full calendar of events, click here.
To join the Stoel Rives mailing list and ensure direct delivery of future alerts, click here to subscribe. To unsubscribe, send an email to unsubscribe@stoel.com.
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BLM Notices Interim and Proposed Rules Protecting Renewable Energy Development From Mining Claims
Stoel Rives attorney Heath Curtiss, one of the
co-authors of "Federal Land Issues with Siting
and Permitting" in our Law of Wind, describes
a Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") plan to
protect certain land suitable for renewables
development from the location of mining claims :
As many of our clients with right-of-way (“ROW”) applications pending before BLM know, mining claims located prior to a final ROW grant can prove difficult obstacles to clear in the context of project permitting, finance, and development. Unfortunately for renewables developers, mining claims are easy to locate, and difficult to invalidate. This gives mining claimants leverage vis-à-vis other public land developers. As one might expect, with the recent uptick in renewable ROW applications, we’ve also seen an increase in mining claims. According to BLM, over the last two years, 437 new mining claims were located within wind energy ROW application areas on BLM lands, and another 216 new mining claims were located within solar energy ROW application areas.
In an effort to address such conflicts, on April 25, 2011, BLM published notice of an Interim Rule effective immediately, and a nearly identical proposed rule, that gives BLM the ability to segregate lands included within wind and solar ROW applications, or lands that BLM identifies for potential wind and solar ROWs. Once segregated, such lands would no longer be subject to appropriation under the appropriations laws, including location under the General Mining Law of 1872. Segregation would not, however, explicitly restrict leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, or sales under the Materials Act of 1947, presumably because those acts already give BLM significantly more discretion to balance competing uses. Likewise, neither the interim nor proposed rule purport to affect existing mining claims.
The foregoing segregation would take effect once BLM publishes notice in the Federal Register, and would terminate on the earliest of (i) a decision to grant or deny the ROW application, (ii) automatically at the end of the segregation period, not to exceed 2 years from the date of publication, or (iii) upon publication of a notice of termination.
BLM is accepting comments on the interim and proposed rules until June 27, 2011.
Bar on Military Purchases of Chinese Solar Panels
In a blow to China’s position as the world’s dominant producer of solar panels, the new military authorization law prevents the Defense Department from buying Chinese-made solar panels, but allows it to buy solar panels from any country that has signed the W.T.O.’s side agreement on government procurement.
The W.T.O. Government Procurement Agreement, which requires free trade in government purchases, has been signed by virtually all industrialized countries. China agreed to sign it on joining the W.T.O. in November 2001, but still has not done so, possibly because of internal pressure that strongly favors steering lucrative government contracts to domestic companies.
Chinese leaders have strongly criticized provisions like the “Buy America” provision in the 2009 economic stimulus legislation, despite having similar restrictions on the use of its own stimulus funds.
China accounted for at least half the world’s production of solar panels in 2010 and its market share is rising. While the United States and Europe have focused on subsidizing solar panel purchasers, China has focused on subsidizing its solar panel manufacturers. It then exports virtually all of its panels to the United States and Europe, taking advantage of American and European consumer subsidies.
Industry experts predict that the new legislation will boost the American solar panel market, partly by requiring future military contracts to specify American-made panels and partly by encouraging Chinese solar panel manufacturers to establish factories in the United States, with the concomitant higher labor and overhead costs.
New Defender of the PACE Program
There is new hope for the PACE financing program (the acronym stands for: “property-assessed clean energy”). The PACE program was started in Berkeley, CA in 2007 and made loans available to homeowners to help defer the cost of renewable energy/energy efficiency equipment and installations. The loan funds come from municipalities who raise the money through bonds and is paid back through assessments on the homeowner's property tax bill. This innovative program has a huge benefit: the loan stays with the home and the homeowner can transfer the loan to a buyer on a sale of the home.
About 20 other states saw the benefit of the California program and passed some sort of PACE legislation by the first quarter of 2010. The Obama administration supported PACE programs with the Department of Energy awarding more than $150 million in federal stimulus funds to back the program.
But last September, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced if a homeowner wanted to refinance or sell their home, the PACE loan had to be paid off in full. This effectively halted all PACE activity and the application of federal stimulus funds.
Last week, the National Resources Defense Council (“NRDC”) filed a lawsuit in a New York federal district court against the (a) Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”), which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and (b) the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCO”), which regulates national banks. The NRDC’s complaint protests the cessation of the PACE program and alleges that the FHFA and the OCO put a stop to the programs without solid justification and without following the proper legal protocols (which would include an environmental review and getting public comment).
We will continue to follow the story and you can read a copy of the complaint here: http://docs.nrdc.org/energy/files/ene_10100601a.pdf.
A National Renewable Energy Standard Bill Surfaces in DC
Sens. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Sam Brownback (R-KS), with Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tom Udall (D-NM), Mark Udall (D-CO) and others joining, announced today that they will introduce a stand-alone Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) bill. The bill will require sellers of electricity to obtain the following milestones in adding renewable energy resources or energy efficiency:
2012-2013 - 3%
2014-2015 - 6%
2017-2018 - 9%
2019-2020 - 12%
2021 - 2039 -15%
Renewable resources that can be used toward compliance will include wind, solar, ocean, geothermal, biomass, landfill gas, incremental hydropower, hydrokinetic, new hydropower at existing dams, and waste-to-energy. For utilities that are unable to meet their RES targets, the bill proposes to charge a compliance payment at a rate of 2.1 cents per kilowatt hour, with such amounts then being used for renewable energy development or to offset consumers' bills.
A first step, yes. But a small one.
Follow the link to learn more:
APS Announces Wind and Solar RFPs
On January 27, Arizona Public Service (APS) announced two requests for proposals (RFPs), one for new sources of photovoltaic (PV) solar energy and the other for Arizona-based wind.
The RFP for solar PV seeks proposals for projects that are between 15 and 50 megawatts and that employ commercially proven technology. APS's goal is to procure approximately 220,000 megawatt hours per year from this PV solicitation. Respondents are required to provide proposals for long-term power purchase agreements and/or "turn-key" agreements. The latter are sometimes called BTAs (Build-Transfer Agreements) or DBS (Design-Build-Sell) agreements--however named, APS anticipates that the agreement would require the developer to build the project and transfer it to APS when the project is completed. (As an aside, turn-key agreements that do not transfer the asset until commercial operation require very careful attention to "notice to proceed" clauses and conditions, lest defects in title, permits or some other matter thwart the closing and leave the developer's asset unsold or, worse, stranded.)
In its press release, APS encouraged parties to participate in the photovoltaic RFP bidder's conference on March 12, 2010. Additional information about the conference and the RFP is available online at www.aps.com/rfp. RFP submissions are due April 7, 2010.
On the wind side, APS is looking for wind projects between 15 and 100 megawatts located entirely within Arizona. Respondents are required to provide proposals for long-term power purchase and/or "turn-key" agreements. Interested parties are encouraged to participate in the Arizona-based wind RFP bidder's teleconference on March 17, 2010. Additional information about the conference and the RFP is available online at www.aps.com/rfp. RFP submissions are due April 14, 2010.
California Solar Initiative issues Second Grant Solicitation
The California Solar Initiative (“CSI”) has announced the release of a second Grant Solicitation for its Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment Program.
Up to $15 million in funding is available for improved PV production technologies and innovative business models. Eligible applicants include individuals, businesses, public entities, non-profit institutions, universities, or national laboratories. Award amounts will range from $200,000 up to $3 million. Each project is required to have a minimum of 25% cost sharing (which may include funding for related activities under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act).
A pre-bid webinar will held on November 18, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. (PST). The deadline for submitting grant proposals is January 13, 2010 by 4:00 p.m. (PST). CSI estimates that approvals will be sent out in April 2010.
For more information, see: http://www.calsolarresearch.ca.gov/Current-Solicitations/solicitations-second.html
Solar Power International '09
Next week, the Anaheim Convention center hosts Solar Power International, which bills itself as 'North America's largest business to business solar industry event.’ With over 900 exhibitors (Stoel Rives included) and 25,000 attendees expected, there is no doubt that this conference will be one of the largest and most heavily attended solar industry events in the world this year. The conference starts on Monday October 26 with pre-conference workshops and runs through Friday October 30. This year’s keynote speaker is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. the keynote address will take place on Wednesday morning.
If you are attending the conference, please stop by our exhibit booth (No. 1744), which is centrally located in the “PV Cells and Modules” section of the Exhibit floor. Stoel Rives attorneys Howard Susman, Morten Lund, Pat Boylston, Gregory Jenner, Stephen Hall, Kristen Castaños, David Quinby and Adam Walters will be in attendance.
