President Obama issues ban on executive branch officials from speaking to lobbyists on specific stimulus projects
Continue Reading President Obama Clamps Down on Lobbyists and First Amendment
Stoel Teams with EUCI to Present Law of Renewable Energy Webinars
Stoel Rives LLP is teaming up with EUCI to present a series of webinar’s based on our series of “Law of” books about renewable energy. The Law of Renewable Energy web conferences will address the major legal issues associated with the development of renewable energy projects. The web conferences will include the following topics:
Stimulus Bill Funding for Data Center and Telecom Technology Energy Efficiency, Smart Grid, Enhanced Geothermal Systems, and More
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also known as the “Stimulus Bill,” allocated billions of dollars in funding for renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, and other projects under the energy and climate change umbrella. Of the vast sums of money available for such projects, $16.8 billion goes to the U.S. Department of Energy’s
Utah Governor Urged to Withdraw from Western Climate Initiative
On February 13, the Utah Public Utilities and Technology Committee voted to favorably recommend a House Resolution urging Governor Huntsman to withdraw Utah from the Western Climate Initiative. The resolution, 1st Sub. H.R. 3, contains recitals referring to “Utah’s abundant and clean burning coal,” the lack of balance in the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Council
Governor Schwarzenegger Strikes Again: 33% RPS by 2020 and Streamlined Renewable Energy Permitting in California
Governor Schwarzenegger’s been keeping busy on California’s big-ticket environmental issues. Yesterday the Governor’s office issued Executive Order S-14-08, with the laudable goal of accelerating the development of renewable energy resources . . . not to mention bolstering California’s economy with clean-tech jobs. Governor Schwarzenegger announced the Order at what will be the largest solar panel manufacturing facility in North America. The Governor’s remarks on his Executive Order highlighted that investing in renewable energy projects will help us fight climate change, “while driving the state’s green economy.”
Executive Order S-14-08 calls for California to get 33% of our electric energy from renewable sources by 2020. The current Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), instituted in SB 107 in 2006, requires that 20% of California’s power come from renewable sources by 2010. Unlike the current RPS, the Governor’s new target applies to both investor-owned utilities and public utilities. A recent ballot initiative in California, which would have applied California’s RPS to public utilities, failed on November 7th, after being opposed by a broad coalition of environmental groups and renewable energy industry groups. The Governor says he will propose legislation that will codify the 33% RPS for all retail sellers of electricity.
The Order also implements an MOU signed yesterday by the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Starting in February 2009, renewable energy projects should enjoy a streamlined project approval process before a special joint unit of DFG and CEC. But exactly how will these two agencies “immediately create,” as the Order directs, a one-stop process for permitting renewable energy generation power plants? For thermal power plants over 50 MW, including geothermal and solar thermal facilities, the CEC already is, supposedly, the one-stop shop. Continue Reading Governor Schwarzenegger Strikes Again: 33% RPS by 2020 and Streamlined Renewable Energy Permitting in California
Congress Extends PTC and ITC–More Analysis to Follow
In an email alert that we just sent out, my colleagues in the Stoel Rives Tax Section report:
Today the House passed, and President Bush signed into law, H.R. 1424, which includes the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 (the Act). The Act contains the much-anticipated extension of the production tax credit (PTC) and investment tax
Ocean Energy Makes Waves Again
For those who are following the development of ocean and wave energy on the West Coast of the United States and Canada, The Oregonian published an interesting article by Gail Kinsey-Hill entitled Off Oregon’s Coast, Wave Energy Makes a Splash. The article provides a good overview of the latest Oregon developments in ocean and
Algae Takes Wing
The August 16-22, 2008 issue of NewScientist features a very interesting article called "A tank of the green stuff" (pages 34-37). Airlines are facing volatile and rising fuel costs, plus the risk of fuel shortages. Unlike land transport, which it least in theory can be converted to run entirely on electricity, air travel depends on
More Good News for Solar!
Coming on the heels of the Oregon PUC’s decision in the Honeywell case (see Steve Hall’s blog below), scientists at MIT announced today that they had discovered a cheap way to separate oxygen from hydrogen using techniques learned from studying plant photosynthesis. Once separated, the hydrogen and oxygen can be used to power a fuel
The New (2nd) Edition of the “Law of Biofuels”
Stoel Rives has now published seven original Law of books covering various topics in the renewable energy industry. To write these books, our attorney-authors draw on over 20 years of legal and business experience in wind, geothermal, biofuels, and other renewable energy resources. The books are intended to provide a succinct but thorough overview of industry segments