June 2009

The Nebraska legislature recently passed a bill amending existing state law governing wind easements, wind options, or wind leases or lease options entered into in the state for the purpose of wind energy development.  Substantive terms of the legislation include a limitation on the initial term of the agreement of not more than 40 years, and an…

President Obama has issued a memorandum calling for the creation of a temporary Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force led by the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to develop a unifying framework for responsible development and ecosystem management for the nation’s oceans, coasts and the Great Lakes. Specifically, within 90 days the Task…

The Western Governors’ Association ("WGA") gathered in Park City, Utah for its annual meeting, which was held on June 14-16, 2009.   Attendees at the meeting included Governors Bill Ritter (Colo.); C.L. "Butch" Otter (Idaho); Brian Schweitzer (Mont.); Dave Heineman (Neb.); Bill Richardson (N.M.); Benigno Fitial, Northern Mariana Islands; Ted Kulongoski (Ore.); Mike Rounds (S.D.); Dave Freudenthal (Wyo.); and Jon Huntsman, Jr. and Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert (Utah) , along with Canadian Premiers Ed Stelmach, Alberta; Gary Doer, Manitoba; and Brad Wall, Saskatchewan. 

The morning session on Monday, June 15, 2009, was kicked off with the unveiling of the Western Renewable Energy Zones-Phase 1 Report, which was a product of a joint initiative between the WGA and the U.S. Department of Energy (the "WREZ Initiative").  The intention of the WREZ Initiative is twofold:  (1) to identify Western Renewable Energy Zones in the Western Interconnection and (2) to facilitate the development of high voltage transmission to those areas with abundant high-quality renewable resources and low environmental impacts.  Governor Schweitzer provided an overview of the WREZ Phase I report, which included a summary of the process for obtaining feedback from a diverse group of stakeholders to provide the analysis and tools for constructing a plan to facilitate the construction of new, utility scale renewable energy facilities and any needed transmission to deliver that energy across the Western Interconnection.  The WREZ Initiative has developed a modeling tool for evaluating the relative economic attractiveness of costs of delivered renewable energy, including transmission costs, from specific renewable resource areas delivered to specific load centers. Continue Reading Strategies for Tapping the West’s Renewable Energy Potential

Rhode Island has introduced legislation to encourage offshore wind development.  Under the draft bill, the state’s largest electricity supplier, National Grid, would be required to purchase the energy output from an offshore wind project proposed by the state’s selected preferred offshore wind developer, Deepwater Wind.  National Grid has said that it supports the proposal…

On June 9, 2009, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) re-opened a Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA”) related to the Clean Coal Power Initiative (“CCPI”). The CCPI is a cost-shared collaboration between government and industry to advance clean coal technologies in accordance with the Energy Policy Act of 2005. CCPI goals include advancing clean coal technologies for commercial development.…

On June 16, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") announced the funding of seven research projects for the development of advanced batteries for electric drive vehicles.  The projects focus on improving performance and decreasing the cost of batteries for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles ("PHEVs").  PHEVs are designed to be driven in electric-only mode and can be recharged…

On June 8, 2009, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a Funding Opportunity Announcement (“FOA”) to deploy over $1.4 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“Recovery Act”) to be used to lower our nation’s carbon emissions. The FOA will support projects in two areas: (1) the capture and sequestration of carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides almost $94 billion dollars in direct and indirect spending to clean energy company and projects. See Show me the Money: A Guide to Sources of Funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. 

On June 17, 2009, I will be speaking in Cle Elum, Washington about how…

On June 12, 2009, the Department of Energy ("DOE") announced that an agreement has been entered to develop the nation’s first commercial scale, fully integrated, carbon capture and sequestration project in the country. 

The Project will be constructed by the FutureGen Alliance and will serve as a flagship facility to demonstrate commercial scale carbon capture…