On September 30, 2022 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) published notice in the Federal Register of a proposed rule amending its regulations authorizing permits for eagle incidental take and eagle nest take. Although the proposed rule includes other proposed revisions, the most notable change is the Service’s proposal to create general permits for … Continue Reading
On June 30, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 205 (“AB 205”), which, among various other things, expands the siting jurisdiction of the California Energy Commission (“CEC”) to include non-thermal generating facilities, such as solar and wind projects, with a capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) or more. The CEC’s siting jurisdiction was previously … Continue Reading
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
Today, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton announced a Call for Information and Nominations (Call) to assess commercial interest in potential offshore wind leasing within two areas off the Oregon coast. Together, the two areas total 1,158,400 million acres located at least 12 miles offshore Coos Bay and Brookings, respectively. Once the … Continue Reading
On Friday February 25, the Biden administration continued its push to achieve 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced three Call Areas for the development of floating offshore wind in federal waters off the Oregon coast. The Call Areas, located 13.8 miles off the coast of … Continue Reading
The Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE) is kicking off the stakeholder engagement part of its Floating Offshore Wind Study on January 20 at 9 a.m. As directed by HB 3375, ODOE is preparing a report on the challenges and benefits of integrating up to 3 gigawatts (GW) of floating offshore energy into Oregon’s grid by … Continue Reading
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
The US Treasury will soon be $205,000 richer due to the payment of a civil penalty by American Transmission Company (ATC) related to violations of sections 203 and 205 of the Federal Power Act. ATC’s compliance failure stems from 21 transactions for which it had failed to file for authorization under section 203 and 29 … Continue Reading
On April 6th, the energy storage market received a boost in California when state regulators authorized $196 million in new rebates for customers who install onsite (behind the meter) energy storage systems. Background The change occurs under the California Self Generation Incentive Program (“SGIP”). SGIP provides a financial rebate to energy customers who install new … Continue Reading
In the continuing saga of the Echanis wind project in Eastern Oregon, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman on April 18 vacated the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM)’s Record of Decision (ROD) on a right-of-way grant decision under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act for a 230-kV transmission line conveying power generated from the … Continue Reading
Two new bills, similar in concept but differing in approach, seek to align renewable energy output with peak electricity demand. Currently, the California Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires investor-owned utilities to procure 50% of total retail sales of electricity from renewable energy resources by 2030. If enacted, the bills would expand the RPS from a … Continue Reading
If you’re looking for a new cleantech startup idea, the San Diego Regional Energy Innovation Network (SD-REIN) recently released a report that identifies cleantech market opportunities in the Southern California region. The report, entitled “Regional Energy Technology Priorities and Needs,” was presented at an SD-REIN meeting on March 9, 2017. It will be used to … Continue Reading
Wyoming has one of the nation’s best wind resources. But if a contingent of state senators and representatives there have their way, electric utilities located in the state will be slapped on the wrist for using it (or other renewables, for that matter). Senate File 71, which has been introduced in the Wyoming State Senate and … Continue Reading
Amidst all the focus in Washington DC over inauguration crowd sizes, at least one state is instead focusing on matters affecting jobs, security, and quality of life–renewable energy! A bill (SD.1932) introduced in Massachusetts would require the state to use 100% renewable energy for electricity by 2035 and also seeks to deeply cut fossil fuels … Continue Reading
Today the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) published notice in the Federal Register of a long-anticipated final rule revising its eagle permitting regulations (Revised Eagle Rule). Concurrent with the Revised Eagle Rule, the Service issued a Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) analyzing the Eagle Rule revision under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). … Continue Reading
This week the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that could help clarify the allocation of risk in power purchase agreements (PPAs). In Benton County Wind Farm LLC v. Duke Energy Indiana, Inc., the court settled a PPA dispute by concluding that the contract required the utility (Duke) to pay the wind farm … Continue Reading
With a goal to spur wind and solar development on public lands, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is expected to soon release a new rule that will streamline approval of new renewable energy projects. First proposed for advance notice and comment in 2011, the rule would amend BLM regulations at 43 C.F.R. §§ 2800 … Continue Reading
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) recently issued a draft manual on distributed energy resources (DER) compensation to assist jurisdictions in navigating the challenges and policy considerations associated with this hot button issue. The release of the manual marks the first time NARUC has specifically weighed in on DER compensation issues. DERs are … Continue Reading
