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The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council (EFSC) recently finalized rules clarifying its contested case procedures for energy project siting. These updates aim to improve clarity, align procedures with broader administrative rules, and address participation criteria for stakeholders. A contested case hearing resembles an administrative trial and is a culminating step in EFSC’s certification process.…

UPDATE 10/30/2024 An update to this post is available here.
The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council recently finalized rule changes clarifying contested case procedures for large-scale energy project approvals. Key updates include more specific requirements for public participation—such as detailing objections in comments and petitions—and expanding opportunities for issue-raising in contested cases. Additionally, the…

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or Commission) is weighing party comments on implementation of Assembly Bill (AB) 2143.  Enacted last year, AB 2143 will take effect on January 1, 2024.  This bill extends existing prevailing wage requirements for public works to the construction of any renewable electrical generation facility, and any associated battery storage…

On February 20, 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)  unanimously approved a proposed rule that would revise certain reporting requirements for financially-settled offtake contracts that qualify as “swaps” under the Commodity Exchange Act (as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act), such as proxy revenue swaps, fixed-volume price swaps and certain virtual PPAs.  Many counterparties to…

In a move that was widely anticipated across the energy industry, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today issued an order that terminated a notice of proposed rulemaking that had been initiated in October 2017 in response to a demand by Energy Secretary Rick Perry that FERC enact rules to compensate certain resources for what…

Or so Secretary Rick Perry and the DOE would have us believe.  Approximately three weeks ago, the DOE made its pitch to FERC and the energy industry that a lack of “resiliency” threatens the U.S. power grid.  The responses are in.  And the shock and bewilderment that immediately followed the release of the Secretary’s surprising…

In a much-anticipated move, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is proposing repeal of the Clean Power Plan (CPP).  The draft proposed rule outlines EPA’s revised interpretation of its authority under Clean Air Act section 111(d) to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from power plants only within the fenceline.  EPA concludes in the proposed rule…

By a notice issued yesterday, September 28, Rick Perry, the Secretary of Energy, utilized section 403 of the DOE Act to require FERC to cause organized energy market operators (ISOs/RTOs) to compensate “fuel secure generation”, i.e., coal power, for grid “resiliency”–something that apparently puts Americans at risk despite statements by NERC to the contrary or…

As we approach the critical September 22  vote of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) for the U.S. solar industry, here is a brief review of how we arrived at this point and what to expect.  This vote will constitute the injury determination in the ITC global safeguard investigation into the effect of imported crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) products on the U.S. domestic solar manufacturing industry.

Overview

As reported widely in the solar industry press, on August 15, 2017, the ITC in Washington D.C. conducted a public hearing for the injury phase of the trade investigation (Inv. No. 201-075) into CSPV product imports.  The hearing generated more than 400 pages of hearing transcript and thousands of pages of briefing materials and statements submitted both in support and in opposition of the need for trade protection remedies to  support the U.S. domestic solar manufacturing industry.  A public version of some hearing testimony is available here.  The stakes are high.  This investigation could lead to  increased tariffs, quotas, or both, against all U.S. imports globally of CSPV cells whether or not partially or fully assembled into other products. CSPV cells are the most common form of raw power-generating material used in solar panels.  This investigation is being conducted pursuant to U.S. trade statutes and U.S. obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) terms of the Agreement on Safeguards.
Continue Reading ITC Prepares to Vote on the Suniva/SolarWorld proceeding re Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells