Category: Renewable

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California Energy Commission Discusses Draft Report on Offshore Wind

On May 18, 2022, the California Energy Commission met to discuss its draft report to evaluate and quantify the maximum feasible capacity of offshore wind to achieve reliability, ratepayer, employment, and decarbonization benefits and establish megawatt offshore wind planning goals for 2030 and 2045. The report is the first of three interim work products that … Continue Reading

Commission Ruling Reopens the NEM 3.0 Record to Invite Comment on and Consider Limited Issues

In its first move since hitting “pause” on the California Public Utilities Commission’s (Commission) consideration of a controversial December 2021 proposed decision (Proposed Decision or PD) that would have overhauled the existing net energy metering (NEM) tariff for California’s solar customers, the presiding administrative law judge (ALJ) issued a ruling on May 9 to reopen … Continue Reading

Reactive Power Compensation for Renewable Generators – On the Chopping Block?

On November 18, 2021, FERC issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) seeking comments on reactive power capability compensation and market design.  (Link to NOI here). Reactive power is a critical component of the bulk electric system. Almost all bulk electric power is generated, transported, and consumed in AC networks. These AC systems consume both real … Continue Reading

CPUC Issues Net-Qualifying Capacity Values to Be Used for Mid-Term Reliability Procurement

In June 2021, the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) issued its Mid-Term Reliability Procurement Decision, Decision (D.) 21-06-035, which directed load-serving entities subject to its jurisdiction (investor-owned utilities, community choice aggregators, and energy service providers) to procure at least 11,500 megawatts (MW) of net-qualifying capacity (NQC) for reliability for the period 2023 through 2026.  The … Continue Reading

California Public Utilities Commission Ruling Seeks Comments on Preferred System Plan for 2022-2032

In docket R.20-05-003, its Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) proceeding, the California Public Utilities Commission is considering its preferred portfolio of new resources for the next ten years.  A lengthy administrative law judge ruling issued August 17, 2021 set out a suggested Preferred System Plan (PSP) for the proceeding, including a suggested resource portfolio through 2032, … Continue Reading

Biden Administration Proposes Rollback of Trump Administration Migratory Bird Rule

This post was co-authored by Stoel Rives summer associate Lydia Heye. In May, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) announced a proposed rule revoking the Trump administration’s final rule on incidental take under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”). In the January 7, 2021 final regulation, the Trump administration interpreted the MBTA’s take prohibition … Continue Reading

Battery Storage Procurement: It’s the Wild West Out There

As the energy storage industry continues on its trajectory of near-exponential growth, in the course of assisting our clients we are seeing a wide variety of battery energy storage system (BESS) offerings in the market, and we don’t always like what we see from a project finance and risk perspective. Battery system offerings are all … Continue Reading

California CCAs, including San Diego Community Power, Receive Proposed Decision for 2019 RPS Plan

On August 19, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a proposed decision accepting the 2019 Renewables Portfolio Standard Procurement Plans submitted by four new Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs): Butte Choice Energy Authority; Clean Energy Alliance; the City of Santa Barbara; and San Diego Community Power.  Each of these CCAs is anticipated to start providing … Continue Reading

CFTC Proposed Rule Benefits Certain Financially-Settled Offtake Arrangements

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 … Continue Reading

CAISO Clarifies Generator Deliverability Assessment Proposal

In a stakeholder call yesterday, the CAISO discussed the Revised Draft Final Proposal in the Generator Deliverability Assessment stakeholder initiative. During the call, the CAISO addressed outstanding stakeholder questions, including confirming key upcoming dates for project developers. Background on the Proposal The CAISO is proposing revisions to its deliverability assessment methodology in response to the … Continue Reading

San Diego Joins Community Choice Aggregation Program⁠ – Set to Launch in 2021

On September 17, 2019 the San Diego City Council voted 7-2 to implement community choice aggregation (CCA), which included approving a resolution authorizing the city’s entry into a Joint Powers Agreement with the cities of Chula Vista, Encinitas, La Mesa and Imperial Beach, forming one of the largest CCAs in the state of California. Under … Continue Reading

CAISO Seeks Stakeholder Feedback on Hybrid Resource Market Participation

The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is accepting stakeholder comments until August 13, 2019 on its new Hybrid Resources Issue Paper, kicking off a stakeholder initiative expected to proceed until April 2020. Initial comments submitted now will help shape the direction of the initiative and potential market changes. Though not exclusively limited to renewables + storage … Continue Reading

Renewable Energy Trending in State Legislative Sessions

State legislatures across the country have been active this spring debating ambitious new targets and renewable energy market reforms, following the successful passage of multiple renewable energy mandates in certain states.  Last year California passed SB 100, which sets the target of 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045.  At least other three states—Hawaii, New Mexico, and … Continue Reading

Key Energy Related Bills Introduced in the 2019-2020 Legislative Session

The 2019-2020 California Legislative Session has reached its first deadline.  February 22, 2019 marked the deadline by which bills could be introduced for the first half of the Legislative Session. Lawmakers will begin Spring Recess April 12 and reconvene April 22.  The last day for bills to be passed out of the house of origin … Continue Reading

Updates to Energy-Related Bills in the 2017-2018 California Legislative Session

Stoel Rives’ Energy Team has been monitoring and providing summaries of key energy-related bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2017-2018 legislative session. Legislators have been busy moving bills through the legislative process since reconvening from the spring recess. Below is a summary and status of bills we have been following. An … Continue Reading

FERC Brushes Away Secretary Perry’s “Resiliency” NOPR, Finding It Legally Deficient

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 … Continue Reading

House Bill Would Extend the ITC to Standalone Energy Storage Systems

The investment tax credit (“ITC”) plays a major role in driving investment in the U.S. solar energy market. Earlier this month, two members of Congress introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to provide a similar ITC for energy storage systems. The bill, called the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act of … Continue Reading

California IOUs Request Approval of 175 MW of New Energy Storage Resources

On December 1, 2017, two of the three major California investor-owned utilities (“IOUs”), Pacific Gas & Electricity (“PG&E”) and Southern California Edison (“SCE”), submitted applications for approval of the results of their 2016-2017 energy storage request for offers. Background on the Energy Storage Mandate in California In September 2010, the Governor of California signed AB … Continue Reading

The Western States’ Plan for EV Charging Infrastructure – Lessons Learned and Things to Watch

Introduction On October 4, 2017, the Governors of a number of western states signed a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) to lay the foundation for work on a regional electric vehicle (“EV”) infrastructure development plan called the Regional Electric Vehicle Plan for the West (“REV West Plan”). The MOU was initially entered by Colorado, Utah, Nevada, … Continue Reading

When the Big One Hits, We’ll All Be Thankful for Grid “Resiliency”

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 … Continue Reading

Tax Equity Investors Wave Goodbye to FPA Section 203

Tax equity investments, and potentially other passive investments, in renewable energy just became that much easier to make.  Today, in response to a petition for declaratory order filed in January 2017 by a coalition of investors and project sponsors, FERC ruled that tax equity investments in public utilities does not trigger section 203 of the … Continue Reading

DOE Directs FERC to Enact Special Compensation Rule for Coal Power

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 … Continue Reading

5 Things Reflected in the ITC’s Suniva Injury-Phase Vote and What Comes Next

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) voted unanimously on September 22, 2017, for an affirmative determination of injury to U.S. producers of crystalline silicon photovoltaic (CSPV) products, such as solar cells, modules and panels, from increased imports of those products into the U.S. market.  The vote concludes the “injury phase” of the investigation which began … Continue Reading

Updates to Energy Related Bills in the 2017-2018 California Legislative Session

Stoel Rives’ Energy Team has been monitoring and providing summaries of key energy-related bills introduced by California legislators since the beginning of the 2017-2018 Legislative Session. Legislators have been busy moving bills through the legislative process since reconvening from the Summer Recess. For any bill not identified as a two-year bill, the deadline for each … Continue Reading
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