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My partner Seth Hilton attended last Friday’s all-party meeting on California’s 2011 RPS procurement and prepared the following update:

On February 11, 2011, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Administrative Law Judge Burton Mattson issued a Proposed Decision (PD) conditionally accepting the 2011 Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) Procurement Plans for Southern California Edison (SCE), Pacific Gas…

Santa Fe-based Chamisa Energy Corporation recently announced a request for proposals for up to 250MW of nameplate wind generation resources to be used to provide energy to a 135 MW or larger compressed air energy storage (CAES) facility under development in Swisher County in the Texas panhandle.  The proposed CAES facility would compress air and store it in…

Legal News Alert from Stoel Rives Environmental Law Group

March 23, 2011

San Francisco Superior Court has issued a final decision in Association of Irritated Residents v. California Air Resources Board.  For the moment, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is enjoined from further rulemaking to implement the California Global Warming Solutions Act (A.B. 32), including

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On February 7, 2011, less than two weeks after hearing oral arguments on the issue, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (“IPUC”) issued Order No. 32176 (the "Order"), temporarily reducing the published avoided cost rate eligibility cap for wind and solar qualifying facilities (“QF”) from 10 aMW to 100 kW. The reduction applies to wind and solar projects only, and was given a retroactive effective date of December 14, 2010.  

The Order is the latest in the Joint Petition docket filed by Idaho Power, Avista Corporation and PacifiCorp d/b/a Rocky Mountain Power (the “Utilities”), whereby the Utilities petitioned the IPUC “to investigate and address various avoided cost and other related issues” regarding QFs under the Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”). Joint Petition at 1. In particular, the Utilities requested a reduction in the eligibility cap from 10 aMW to 100 kW for all resources, “to be effective immediately.” Joint Petition at 7. The Utilities focused specifically on the need to address the “excessive” number of wind QFs currently requesting contracts under the published 10 aMW avoided cost rate, and the disaggregation of wind resources (i.e., dividing large wind projects into multiple 10 aMW projects to qualify for the avoided cost rate), arguing that the Utilities’ ability to continue to accept the QF energy without negatively impacting the electric system and their customer’s is at risk.

In the Order, the IPUC found that “a convincing case has been made to temporarily reduce the eligibility cap . . . for wind and solar only,” but the IPUC maintained the current 10 aMW cap for other QF projects including biomass, small hydro, cogeneration, geothermal, and waste-to-energy facilities. Order at 9. 

The IPUC was careful to note that it is “supportive of all small power producers contemplated by PURPA, including wind and solar, and it is not the Commission’s intent to push small wind and solar QF projects out of the market.” Order at 11. The IPUC is instituting additional proceedings specifically to investigate an avoided-cost rate structure that “(1) allows small wind and solar QFs to avail themselves of published rates for projects producing 10 aMW or less; and (2) prevents large QFs from disaggregating in order to obtain a published avoided cost rate that exceeds the utility’s avoided cost.” Order at 11. During the temporary eligibility cap reduction, the Utilities are still required to purchase power produced by wind and solar QFs, but projects larger than 100 kW must individually negotiate avoided cost rates.

So, now what?Continue Reading Idaho Temporarily Reduced the Availability of Published Avoided Cost Rates for Wind and Solar. Now What?

The California Renewable Energy Action Team’s (REAT) final Best Management Practices and Guidance Manual for Desert Renewable Energy Projects is now available. The Manual was adopted by the California Energy Commission on December 15, 2010. The final version posted online last week includes the minor additions from the December 15 meeting.

The REAT is made up of the California Energy Commission, California Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management. The REAT has the task of helping accelerate the permitting of renewable energy facilities in the California Mojave and Colorado Deserts, while minimizing environmental impacts and conserving natural resources in these areas. This will facilitate California’s larger goals of generating 33% of the state’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. For more background information on the REAT and Executive Order S-14-08, creating the Team, see our previous legal alert. 

 

The REAT is preparing a Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan for the California Mojave and Colorado Deserts ecological areas. The Best Management Practices and Guidance Manual provides interim guidance to facilitate renewable energy during preparation of the comprehensive Conservation Plan. The Manual is designed to provide guidance to renewable energy developers on designing and siting renewable energy projects in these desert areas. The Manual’s stated goals also include assisting agencies in reviewing and permitting renewable energy projects and accelerating environmental review of renewable energy projects, though there is less practical material on these goals.

 

The Manual mainly details actions that should be taken prior to filing an application for a renewable energy project to streamline the permitting process. Many of the recommendations, though, are what savvy developers would strive for in any project:  start coordinating early with agencies with long permitting lead times and provide them with complete materials so the process is not delayed, design and site your project to lessen environmental impacts and make sure it is not in conflict with local requirements, plans, or zoning, and complete your long-lead items in the environmental review process, like season-specific surveys, early. In fact, the Manual states “if the majority of the actions are not addressed it is likely that environmental review and decision-making will take additional time.” While it isn’t groundbreaking advice, it is useful for developers new to California or to serve as a checklist. The Manual, disappointingly (but perhaps not surprisingly) doesn’t provide agencies with any new means to shortcut the laborious permitting process. The main pre-filing recommendations are:Continue Reading Will California’s Best Management Practices and Guidance Manual help streamline renewable energy permitting in the California deserts?

Today, Pacific Gas and Electric ("PG&E") issued its 2011 Photovoltaic Program Power Purchase Agreement Request for Offers (the "RFO").  PG&E is looking to execute 20-year power purchase agreements for a total of 50 MW of new solar PV resources.  Eligible facilities will be new facilities between 1 MW and 20 MW located within PG&E’s service territory, and interconnected to its electric…

An entry from our colleague Jake Storms:

While wineries and vineyards have long been moving toward being “green,” several have taken the next step by installing renewable energy generation onsite. One of the most recent is August Cellars, just outside Newberg, Oregon. The winery recently installed a 150-foot-tall, 50-kilowatt wind turbine. August Cellars maneuvered around the somewhat prohibitive cost of the project (between $70,000 and $100,000) by not actually owning the turbine, but instead leases the turbine from a third party with an option to buy.

August Cellars is following in the footsteps of such giants as Constellation Wines, which, in September 2010, announced it would increase its solar photovoltaic (PV) usage to nearly 4MW with new installations at its Estancia, Ravenswood, and Clos du Bois wineries in California. These systems would expand on the company’s already existing use of solar PV at its Gonzales winery. Constellation will own the systems and take advantage of the tax credits. Once completed, the installations will cover nearly 100% of the energy needs of Estancia and Ravenswood, 75% of Clos du Bois, and 60% of Gonzales and is projected to save the wine giant nearly $1 million annually from reduced energy costs.

The move by wineries toward renewables is not merely a “West Coast thing” either. Red Caboose Winery, a 10,000-case rural winery located in Meridian, Texas, recently released a statement that it would be using a USDA Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grant of $15,617 to help install a solar PV system. According to the owners, the new system will allow the winery to have a net annual energy consumption of zero.Continue Reading Renewable Electricity and Wine – A Perfect Pairing

Wind & Solar Integration Summit, Scottsdale, AZ

January 24, 2011, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Workshop

January 25, 2011, 7 a.m. – 5:15 p.m., Conference

January 26, 2011, 9 a.m. – 11:45 a.m., Conference

 

As the Workshop Chair, I would like to extend you an invitation to the Wind & Solar Integration Summit…

A legal update from our colleagues, Aaron Courtney, Michael O’Connell & Jake Storms:

Unlike other types of energy development on lands administered by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") (e.g., wind, geothermal), solar energy has consistently encountered significant delays caused in large part by a regulatory authorization system that has yet to…