From my colleague, Andrew Moratzka:
On June 7th, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion in Illinois Commerce Commission, et al., v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, affirming the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) Multi-Value Project (MVP) tariff for
My California colleague Kristen Castaños has written an alert about a recent Fresno County Superior Court decision that denied a challenge to Fresno County’s cancellation of a Williamson Act contract to accommodate a solar generating project.
The decision is the first time a court has considered the interplay between the Williamson Act, a California statute
In September 2012, all new electricity generation came from solar and wind projects, according to the Energy Infrastructure Update (PDF) issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects. Five wind projects totaling 300MW and 18 solar projects totaling 133MW came online during the month.
The Energy Infrastructure Update also noted that nearly
Via my colleague Thomas Braun:
Earlier this week, the Minnesota Court of Appeals weighed in on a long-running dispute between the City of Orono and city resident Jay Nygard over the installation of a small wind turbine on Mr. Nygard’s property. The dispute began two years ago when the city denied Mr. Nygard a permit
California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a new law that could significantly expand virtual net energy metering in California. Since 1996, California utility customers owning renewable energy systems have been able to offset their electricity bills with credits earned by feeding power generated by their systems back to the utility. SB 594 amends California’s net metering law to allow customers to aggregate energy consumed at multiple meters located on their property (or on their contiguous property) and net that use against the power produced by the customer’s renewable facility on the same site.
Meters on contiguous properties must be solely owned, leased, or rented by the eligible customer-generator to be included. Parcels divided by a street, highway, or public thoroughfare are considered contiguous provided that they are otherwise contiguous and under the same ownership. The customer-generator will be able to use the sum of the load of the aggregated meters for purposes of establishing the maximum size renewable generation system to be used for net metering purposes. However, the existing maximum size limit (1 MW) for net-metered generation facilities will apply to customer-generators aggregating multiple meters. Overall, expanded virtual net metering would provide a way for many customers with multiple meters to use on-site generation more efficiently and economically.
Implementation of SB 594 is contingent upon the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) making a determination that the expanded virtual net metering program established by the bill will not result in costs being shifted to non-participating ratepayers. The CPUC is required to make this determination by September 30, 2013.Continue Reading SB 594 Signed into Law: Intended to Expand Virtual Net Metering in California
Our colleague Tom Wood has prepared a helpful summary of the DC Circuit opinion, released this morning, that upheld the EPA’s approach to regulating greenhouse gases under the major new source review program, the Title V program and the vehicle emission standards program.
The lawsuit had challenged three separate rulemakings: (1) EPA’s “Endangerment Finding” in
On Friday, March 30, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (the “Commission”) conditionally approved a proposal from the Midwest Independent System Operator (“MISO”) to change its generator interconnection queue procedures to address backlogs and late-state terminations of generation interconnection queue agreements (FERC Docket No. ER12-309-000). The new procedures are effective January 1, 2012. The reforms
After years of uncertainty, the Wisconsin legislature allowed statewide wind energy siting rules to go into effect today. The new rules (known as “PSC 128”) require wind turbines to be located at least 1,250 feet from the nearest residence and at a distance 1.1 times the height of the wind turbine from the
Two new energy storage studies are getting underway this summer in the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) footprint: the Energy Storage Study and the Manitoba Hydro Wind Synergy Study. At MISO’s Energy Storage Workshop held on June 29, 2011, MISO explained that its goals are to explore the potential reliability, market, and planning benefits of
Last year, we reported on the resolution of a longstanding dispute between Xcel Energy and 46 renewable energy generators about the ownership of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) when the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is silent. In an Order released September 9, 2010, the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission decided that 1) generators own the RECs produced