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Hi there, this is Jon Wellinghoff, former FERC chair and current Stoel Rives partner. I’m pleased to announce that effective today I have joined the Stoel Rives Renewable + Law blogger team. We thought it would be useful to share with you blog readers some of my thinking and writing on the topic of energy…

 The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently issued a decision in Illinois Commerce Commission, et al., v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”), which has the potential to influence and provide direction for the federal district court currently considering the constitutionality of Minnesota’s Next Generation Energy Act (“NGEA”).  In Illinois …

From my colleague, Andrew Moratzka:

On June 7th, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued an opinion in Illinois Commerce Commission, et al., v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, affirming the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) Multi-Value Project (MVP) tariff for…

The Electric Power Research Institute (“EPRI”) recently released the smart grid white paper: “Needed: A Grid Operating System to Facilitate Grid Transformation.” The white paper dissects the first two distinct phases in grid operating systems and then calls for the creation of the 3rd. In order to support the “tectonic changes” already happening in the power system, EPRI offers to help fund, facilitate and catalyze the development of the architecture and functional specifications for Grid 3.0. Without this development, EPRI argues, “the full value of a lot of individual technologies like electric vehicles, electricity energy storage, demand response, distributed resources, and large central station renewables such as wind and solar will not be fully realized.”Continue Reading EPRI’s Call to Action: It’s Time for Grid Operating System 3.0

On July 27, 2010, the Court of Appeals of Texas, Fifth District, Dallas, issued its decision in TXU Portfolio Management Company, L.P., v. FPL Energy, LLC, et al., 2010 Tex. App. Lexis 5905 (2010).  The case arose when three FPL wind farms (the "Wind Farms") located in the McCamey area of West Texas experienced ERCOT-imposed …

In late January, FERC issued an order in response to a filing by Western Grid Development LLC that asked FERC to declare that Western Grid’s proposed battery storage devices are transmission facilities eligible for certain rate incentives.  Western Grid described its battery technology as 10 to 50 MW sodium sulfur batteries that would be installed at…

The Department of Energy has announced that $343 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been provided to the Bonneville Power Administration’s ("BPA") McNary-John Day transmission project (the "McNary-John Day Line") in Washington and Oregon. 

The McNary-John Day Line runs 79 miles from the McNary Substation in Oregon, through Washington, and ending at the…

Legislators recently adopted legislation aimed at helping Utah stay competitive with surrounding states in the fast growing national clean energy movement.  Five (5) bills dealing with renewable energy and energy efficiency passed with strong bi-partisan support.  Three (3) resolutions, while non-binding, send strong messages to local governments and utilities that the legislature encourages, and wants to remove…