The CUB Policy Center, in partnership with the University of Oregon School of Law,  will be holding its inaugural policy conference: Smart Grid: Today’s Regulation and Tomorrow’s Technology, on Friday, October 21, 2011, at the University of Oregon White Stag Block (70 NW Couch St., Portland, OR 97209).  The luncheon keynote speaker will

NRG Bluewater Wind won the exclusive rights to negotiate with the federal government to build an offshore wind farm off the Delaware coast on March 24, 2011. As the first developer to enter into the “Smart from the Start” program released by the BOEMRE on February 7, 2011, NRG Bluewater Wind signed a non-competitive lease agreement

The DOE announced that it will allocate $25 million to two Solid-State Lighting (“SSL”) funding opportunities to advance R&D and market adoption of SSL technology. TThis will be the seventh round of such funding that has been awarded in recent years.

 

Funding is subject to congressional appropriations and will focus on

Yesterday, the Energy and Treasury Departments jointly issued guidance regarding the federal income tax treatment of Smart Grid Investment Grant payments received pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The guidance, which was issued as Revenue Procedure 2010-20, generally provides that a corporation receiving a specified grant will not recognize taxable income upon

Concern is mounting over whether the smart grid awards and project grants to be distributed by the Department of Energy (“DOE”) will be taxable in the hands of the recipients.  Certain grants administered by  federal, state, or local programs for renewable energy projects located in the US may be reportable by the recipient.  The 100 smart grid award recipients,

Yesterday, DOE announced awards of $620 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (“ARRA”) funds for Smart Grid demonstration projects and large-scale energy storage systems. The $620 million is broken down as follows:

 • $435 million to support 16 fully integrated, regional Smart Grid demonstrations in 21 states, representing over 50 utilities and electricity organizations

Later today, the Department of Energy will announce the 100 smart grid projects that will receive smart grid stimulus finds.   A complete list of the awards should be available later today; three have been announced early:

  • Baltimore Gas and Electric: $200,000,000 from DOE and $251,000,000 from other sources
  • Sempra Energy: $28,000,000 and $31,000,000 from other sources

On July 13-14, 2009, I attended Infocast’s Storage Summit in La Jolla, California. The conference attracted over 200 attendees.

On day one, Jim Woolsey, Venture Partner and Senior Advisor for VantagePoint Venture Partners and Former Director of the CIA, delivered a keynote address that focused on the theme of the role of energy storage in achieving