On October 21, 2021, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) approved a rule that creates requirements for power companies to better prepare for winter weather. The rule stems from the Texas Legislature’s passage of Senate Bill 3 (S.B. 3) in response to the devastation caused to the energy grid by Winter Storm Uri.

S.B. 3, effective June 8, 2021, is a multi-pronged law that attempts to make the Texas energy system more resilient to the effects of extreme winter weather events. Key to S.B. 3 is a requirement that the PUCT implement winter weatherization requirements so that each of the entities providing electric generation service must implement measures to prepare its generation assets to provide adequate electric generation service during a weather emergency. The new rule, codified as 16 Texas Administrative Code §25.55,  requires electric generators and transmission service providers (TSPs) (collectively, generation entities) to implement the winter weather readiness recommendations identified in the 2012 Quanta Technology Report on Extreme Weather Preparedness Best Practices and the FERC/NERC 2011 Report on Outages and Curtailments During the Southwest Cold Weather Event on February 1-5, 2011. The rule also requires affected entities to fix any known, acute issues that arose from winter weather conditions during the 2020-2021 winter weather season. The deadline for implementation of many components of the new rule is December 1, 2021.
Continue Reading Public Utilities Commission of Texas Adopts New Winter Weatherization Rules in Response to Winter Storm Uri

On April 11, 2011, FPL Energy, LLC, et al., filed with the Texas Supreme Court a petition for review of the Texas Court of Appeals’ decision FPL Energy, LLC, v. TXU Portfolio Management Company, L.P. The case illustrates the significant economic impact that curtailment can have on variable energy resources. For a detailed description of the case and its implications, see our Renewable + Law Blog entry on the Court of Appeals’ decision here.

The petition for review focuses on the question of whether the Court of Appeals was correct in enforcing the liquidated damages provisions contained in three wind energy power purchase agreements. The pertinent provisions in each PPA required the petitioners to pay $50 for every MWh that the plants fell short of achieving the their minimum REC output guarantees—the Court of Appeals’ holding meant that the petitioners owed TXU roughly $29 million in shortfall damages for a four year period of curtailment imposed by the transmission provider (ERCOT), on top of the pain of losing the contract price and the production tax credit on each MWh of energy curtailed.Continue Reading Petition for Review Filed in TXU v. FPL Curtailment Case

Santa Fe-based Chamisa Energy Corporation recently announced a request for proposals for up to 250MW of nameplate wind generation resources to be used to provide energy to a 135 MW or larger compressed air energy storage (CAES) facility under development in Swisher County in the Texas panhandle.  The proposed CAES facility would compress air and store it in

From our colleague Christina Asavareungchai:

Today, the Department of Energy announced more than $141 million in Recovery Act funding to six states and territories under its State Energy Program (“SEP”). Here is how the funds will be used in Hawaii, Maine, Nebraska, New Mexico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Texas:Continue Reading Show Me the Money: $141 Million Awarded Under State Energy Program