Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber announced today that he has named Margi Hoffman to serve as his Energy Policy Advisor.  She will join the Governor’s office on April 2.

Ms. Hoffman has served as Senior Vice President and Director of Oregon Operations with Strategies360, a strategic consulting firm, and has also worked closely with Renewable Northwest Project (RNP)

I’ll be moderating Energy Storage for the Grid: Watchful Waiting or the Perfect Storm? at the MIT Enterprise Forum Northwest’s May 8, 2012 program at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) , 2700 24th Ave East.  The event, which includes a networking reception, will be held from 5:00 to 8:30 pm. 

The evening’s panelists will be:

  • Terry Oliver, Chief

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is gearing up for spring with its revised Oversupply Management Protocol (OMP), submitted last week as a compliance filing in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proceeding on BPA’s “Environmental Redispatch” policy. BPA’s compliance filing was submitted in response to FERC’s December 7, 2011 order holding that BPA’s Environmental Redispatch policy

On Wednesday, February 22, the White House and the Department of Treasury issued a report entitled “The President’s Framework for Business Tax Reform.”  Among other proposals for reforming the way U.S. businesses are taxed, the report calls for a permanent extension of the Production Tax Credit (“PTC”) for renewable energy projects.  In addition, the President’s

The Bonneville Power Administration (“BPA”) made headlines this week with the release of its Draft Oversupply Management Protocol (the “Draft Oversupply Protocol”). BPA’s Draft Oversupply Protocol is intended to address concerns raised by BPA’s Environmental Redispatch (“ER”) policy of curtailing wind generation without compensation during periods of high water. Back in December, in response to a complaint

In a previous blog, we reported on a proposed decision pending consideration by the California Energy Commission (CEC), which would allow solar photovoltaic project developers to opt-in to the CEC’s permitting process.  The CEC has announced that its decision on this matter has been postponed to an as-yet undetermined date.

On January 31, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) conditionally accepted additional reforms to the California ISO’s Generator Interconnection Procedures (GIP) that significantly change the rules that apply to developers seeking to interconnect power generation facilities in the California ISO’s balancing authority area.

The decision continues the California ISO’s efforts to reform the GIP

Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued its first pilot project license for a tidal energy project to Verdant Power, LLC for its Roosevelt Island Tidal Energy ("RITE") Project in New York’s East River (pictured at right).  As a first-of-its-kind license, this is a significant step for the burgeoning tidal energy industry in the United

A legal update from our colleagues Seth Hilton and Allison Smith:

On December 15, 2011, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted Decision 11-12-052, implementing Portfolio Content Categories for the 33% Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) Program in California. The Decision implements portions of Senate Bill (S.B.) x1-2, which created the 33% RPS Program. S.B. x1-2