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WoWE – Women of Wind Energy – has been promoting the education, professional development, and advancement of women in the renewable energy workforce since its inception in 2005.  It has since grown into a network of over 1,000 members strong.  It was founded to ensure that women are given the opportunity to play full, productive…

In recent months, the State of Maine has sought the spotlight in the offshore renewable energy space.  This entry summarizes three major events that have marked the state’s move toward a leadership role.

Maine Signs MOU with Nova Scotia

On July 12, 2010, Governor John E. Baldacci signed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) with Nova…

An alert written by Stoel Rives partners Seth Hilton and John McKinsey:

The California Energy Commission RPS staff has proposed some significant and potentially important revisions to the RPS Eligibility Guidebook and the Overall Program Guidebook.  Written comments on the proposed revisions are due September 10, 2010, by 5:00 p.m.  The CEC will consider approval…

On August 25, 2010, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") and the State of Colorado signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") which could lead to simplified procedures and regulations for authorizing small-scale hydropower development in Colorado.  Although traditional hydropower has not seen significant new development in recent years, interest in small, low-impact projects is on the…

An alert written by Stoel Rives partner Seth Hilton:

Last night, the California legislature failed to pass Senate Bill 722—the 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) legislation—by the close of the legislative session. The bill would have increased California’s RPS to 33% for both investor-owned and publicly owned utilities. It would also have placed limits on the use of renewable resources located out-of-state to meet California’s RPS—utilities would have been required to meet a certain percentage of their RPS obligations through resources whose first point of interconnection was a California balancing authority, or whose power is transmitted to California through a dynamic transfer arrangement or scheduled hourly or inter-hourly into California. The proposed legislation also would have authorized the use of renewable energy credits (RECs)—the environmental attributes of renewable power separated from the power itself—for RPS compliance, but would have imposed limits on the amount of RECs that could be used to meet the utilities’ RPS obligation.Continue Reading California Legislature Fails to Pass 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard

The Treasury Department recently issued a series of FAQs in an effort to clarify when projects will be treated as having “begun construction” for purposes of the section 1603 grant. As you may be aware, a project that otherwise qualifies for the grant but is not placed in service before the end of 2010 may still be eligible for the grant if construction on the project is begun in 2009 or 2010 and the project is eventually placed in service before the applicable “credit termination date.” The new FAQs address a number of the unanswered questions. However, the framework adopted by the Treasury Guidance and the new FAQs is complex, and there appears to be a considerable amount of confusion among developers about how the “beginning construction” requirement can be met. Therefore, we thought it important to issue this alert.
Continue Reading Understanding “Beginning Construction” Under Section 1603

Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal included an editorial by Robert Bryce titled "Wind Power Won’t Cool Down the Planet," claiming that wind power does not reduce carbon pollution, based on fossil fuel industry studies.  In response to Bryce’s editorial, Renewable Northwest Project has released a statement from Ken Dragoon, RNP research director, countering Bryce’s claims with facts from independent sources. (http://www.rnp.org/index.php?q=node/1001…

On August 25, the California Public Utilities Commission (“CPUC”) issued a proposed decision (“PD”) that would end the CPUC’s moratorium on approval of tradable renewable energy credit (“TREC”) transactions and increase the cap on such transactions for large investor-owned utilities to 40%.

Previously at its March 11, 2010 meeting, the CPUC authorized the use of TRECs for compliance with California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), subject to certain limitations. CPUC Dec. 10-03-021 (Mar. 15, 2010)(“March Decision”). Among the limitations that the March Decision imposed was a cap limiting the use of TRECs for RPS compliance for the largest investor-owned utilities (Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas and Electric) to 25% of their annual RPS compliance obligations. That cap was to remain in place until December 31, 2011, when the CPUC would consider modifying or removing that limitation. The March Decision also imposed a price cap of $50 per TREC. The price cap also expires on December 31, 2011.Continue Reading Energy Law Alert: CPUC Proposes to End Moratorium on TREC Transactions; Increase Cap to 40%

Last week, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission resolved a longstanding dispute over who owns Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) when the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is silent.  Following the establishment of an REC tracking system for Minnesota, Xcel Energy asked the Commission to clarify ownership of RECs associated with 46 wind, biomass, hydro, and landfill gas…