On August 13, 2012, Ocean Power Technologies ("OPT"), received some fantastic news when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC" or "the Commission") issued a first-of-its-kind, 35-year license to construct and operate a wave energy project off the coast of Oregon to its subsidiary, OPT Reedsport Wave Park, LLC.  Stoel Rives attorneys are pleased with the FERC order, having worked with OPT to negotiate and…

On August 7, 2012, the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center in Huntsville, Alabama issued its much-anticipated final solicitation for renewable and alternative energy utilizing power purchase agreements (PPAs) or other contractual equivalents (Solicitation Number W912DY-11-R-0036, the "Final RFP").  The draft RFP was issued on Friday February 24, 2012 and the Army has been in active discussion…

On July 23, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill which amends the state’s solar energy incentive program in an effort to increase the demand for solar renewable energy credits (SRECs), stabilize the market for SRECs, which has seen a substantial decline in price over the last year, and support the development…

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, sometimes a chairman’s mark will change just before the committee marks up legislation.  Chairman Baucus’s did.  Here is a description of the now-included PTC/ITC proposal:

Description of Proposal

 The proposal extends and modifies the expiration dates for the renewable electricity production credit and the 30-percent investment credit …

Earlier today, I reported that Senators Baucus and Hatch had agreed on a proposal to extend a package of expiring provisions.  Details of that package have now been released here:

https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=4480

Unfortunately, it appears that extension of the PTC was not included.  This does not preclude the Senate Finance Committee from adding it during its…

Southwestern Public Service Company (“SPS”), a subsidiary of Xcel, has issued a request for proposals to diversify its existing renewable energy portfolio in New Mexico. SPS is seeking, on an annual basis, approximately 88,705 MWh of “Other” renewable energy generation as defined by the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission Rule 572 NMAC (i.e., other than solar…

Senators Max Baucus and Orrin Hatch, chairman and ranking member respectively, of the US Senate Finance Committee, have just announced that they have reached agreement on legislation to extend certain expiring tax provisions.  The bill will be marked up by the Finance Committee on August 2.

The details of the proposal have not been announced. …

From my colleague Alex Mertens:

On July 23, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill which amends the state’s solar energy incentive program in an effort to stabilize the market for solar renewable energy credits (SRECs) and support the development of solar projects within the state. Key features of the law…

As my colleagues Kristen Castaños and Melissa Foster posted on the Stoel Rives California Environmental Law Blog, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced today that it will publish the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (“Solar PEIS”) for solar energy development in six southwestern states—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.  The Solar PEIS is a major step forward in the permitting of utility-scale solar energy on public lands in the West.   

The Solar PEIS will establish solar energy zones with access to existing or planned transmission and with the fewest resource conflicts and provide incentives for development within those zones.  The roadmap set forth in the Solar PEIS will make for faster, more streamlined permitting of large-scale solar projects on these public lands.  The focus of the Solar PEIS is on Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) lands that are most suitable for solar energy development.  It identifies 17 Solar Energy Zones (“SEZs”), totaling about 285,000 acres of public lands, as priority areas for utility-scale solar development.  The Solar PEIS also notes the potential for additional zones through ongoing and future regional planning processes and allows for utility-scale solar development on approximately 19 million acres in variance areas lying outside of identified SEZs.Continue Reading U.S. Department of Interior Moves to Streamline Solar Development in the West