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Today marks the release of the highly anticipated report from the Minnesota e21 Initiative (e21 stands for 21st Century Energy System).  The Great Plains Institute assembled a diverse range of stakeholders, including utilities, ratepayer advocates, environmental advocates, and independent power producer advocates, to discuss regulatory reform in Minnesota to accomodate anticipated changes to our energy…

Last Thursday, longtime California Public Utilities Comissioner and President Michael Peevy announced he would not seek reappointment at the end of this year, when his second six-year term with the CPUC expires. In making his announcement, Peevy issued the following statement:

“I originally planned to make the following announcement at the CPUC’s regularly-scheduled…

Earlier this year, a group of Stoel Rives attorneys traveled to Mexico to assess existing opportunities and pending developments in the Mexican power markets.  Some of the reforms and key trends identified during that trip are now taking shape. See also my blog post “Let the Market Decide: The Third Wave of Energy Investment in Latin America and Caribbean.”

Our work in Mexico included meetings with existing clients, senior partners of a major Mexican law firm, a briefing with a senior Mexican policymaker regarding implementation of the reforms and attendance at the Mexican International Renewable Energy Conference.  Here are some key “take-aways” from these meetings:

  • A Mexican renewable energy market has been successfully launched, with more wind than solar developed to date.
  • A package of “secondary” laws implementing Mexico’s energy reform legislation are pending in the Mexican Congress.
  • The secondary laws will include some form of renewable portfolio standard (e.g., 30% by 2024) that relies on (among other elements) renewable energy certificates.
  • The secondary laws are also expected to launch a wholesale electricity market, a demand response market and other provisions designed to encourage distributed generation.
  • Solar module manufacturers and other stakeholders are concerned about the government’s decision to apply a 15% import tax on electrical “generators” to non-NAFTA solar modules. 

Continue Reading Businesses and Policymakers Confirm Mexican Energy Reforms Are Gaining Momentum

The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a stunner with its decision this morning in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. Environmental Protection Agency. The Supreme Court has curtailed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) regulation of stationary source greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under two Clean Air Act permitting programs – New Source Review Prevention of Significant …

FERC issues a proposed rulemaking that impacts the owners of gen-tie lines, and the rulemaking is particularly important to renewable energy developers who are interested in maintaining priority to gen-tie capacity for multi-phase projects.
Continue Reading FERC Initiates Proposed Rulemaking Affecting Interconnection Facilities

The East Kern Wind Resource Area (EKWRA)–it’s a mouthful–and it’s also a hotbed for renewable energy development and the location of a fight over millions of dollars among Southern California Edison (SCE), the California ISO, and independent power developers (IPPs).  Late last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) scored that fight in favor of…

In a proposed decision issued yesterday from the California Public Utilities Commission, an administrative law judge (ALJ) determined that energy storage devices (i) that are paired with net energy metering- (NEM) eligible generation facilities, and (ii) that meet the Renewables Portfolio Standard Eligibility Guidebook requirements to be considered an "addition or enhancement" to NEM-eligible systems are "exempt from interconnection application…

Xcel Energy, Minnesota Power, Center for Energy and Environment, George Washington University, and other stakeholders participated in the first e21 Initiative meeting on February 28. The e21 Initiative aims to develop a new or adapted regulatory framework that addresses the challenges of the evolving energy economy and shifting technological landscape. There will be three phases…

My colleague, Daniel Lee, followed oral argument yesterday in the U.S. Supreme Court’s consideration of federal greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA, and provides this analysis:

During oral argument for Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA this Monday, the Supreme Court conflicted over a number of issues including the application of…