Puget Sound Energy (PSE) has filed with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) a Request for Proposals for All Generation Sources (the all-source RFP) and a Request for Proposals for Electric and Demand Side Resources (energy-efficiency RFP). PSE filed the draft all source RFP on August 1, 2011 and plans to issue a…

My collegue Michael O’Connell issued the legal alert below on a recent significant Interior Board of Land Appeals decision concerning the intersection of tribal cultural resources and a BLM geothermal lease application:

The Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA or Board) decision, Earth Power Resources, 181 IBLA 94 (May 12, 2011), deals with BLM action on a geothermal lease application in Nevada. Citing National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) section 304, 16 U.S.C. § 470w-3, BLM withheld from a geothermal lease applicant an ethnographic study of Ruby Valley that identified a tribal traditional cultural property (TCP) important to an Indian Tribe and disapproved the lease application in order to protect the TCP. The Board overturned BLM’s decision and remanded the case for further action.Continue Reading The Bureau of Land Management, Tribal Cultural Resources and Renewable Energy Development

Last week, the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (“PNWER”) Annual Summit here in Portland, Oregon played host to its first-ever ocean energy panel and moderated forum. The four-hour session was organized by Oregon state Representative Deborah “Debbie” Boone (D.- Cannon Beach) and Richard “Rick” Williams of Science Applications International Corporation. The five initial panelists [1] were joined by members of the Alaska and Washington legislature, industry representatives, environmental and project development consultants, and others in a frank discussion about the potential for developing an offshore wave and tidal energy industry in the Pacific Northwest.

The conversation was a good one, with a handful of topics taking up the majority of the air time:Continue Reading PNWER Annual Summit Hosts First Ocean Energy Panel and Moderated Forum

Yesterday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC" or "the Commission") issued Order No. 1000 in Docket No. RM10-23-000, a rulemaking proceeding initiated by the Commission on June 17, 2010.  Order No. 1000 is a Final Rule that weighs in at a whopping 620 pages and reforms the Commission’s electric transmission planning and cost allocation requirements for public utility transmission providers. 

The order takes effect 60 days from its publication in the Federal Register and public utility transmission providers are required to make a compliance filing within 12 months of the effective date of the Final Rule.  Compliance filings for interregional transmission coordination and cost allocation mandated by the Final Rule must be submitted within 18 months of the effective date.

Attorneys here at Stoel Rives are reviewing the order and its implications for our clients now, but given the size and scope of the order, this blog will rely on summary information published by the Commission concurrently with the order to provide readers a general idea of its contents.Continue Reading FERC Issues Order No. 1000 on Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation by Transmission Owning and Operating Public Utilities

California’s AB 2514 directs the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) to determine appropriate targets, if any, for load-serving entities to procure viable and cost-effective energy storage systems. If the CPUC decides that targets are appropriate, it is supposed to set dates for achieving those targets.

As a follow up to an AB 2514 workshop held…

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is developing a new report to define functional requirements for customer energy storage systems (CESS). The project is engaging energy storage stakeholders to collaborate on the development of the functional requirements through a public process.

EPRI’s effort is designed to create an understanding between electric utilities and their storage…

Several requests for proposals ("RFPs") have been issued recently with July deadlines.  Here’s a brief summary of each:

  • Progress Energy Carolinas is seeking proposals for energy and renewable energy certificates from newly constructed or existing wind projects of at least 5 MW to comply with North Carolina’s renewable energy portfolio standard.  Projects do not have to

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