Legal & Regulatory

A sweeping climate proposal introduced by U.S. House Democrats on March 2 sets a stringent clean energy electricity mandate for power retailers nationwide, requiring they procure 100% of their power supplies from zero-emitting generation by 2035.  Among its slew of measures aimed at achieving net-zero emissions nationwide by 2050, the Climate Leadership and Environmental Action […]

The group considered Texas’ oldest and largest electricity cooperative has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it can’t pay money wanted by the state’s grid operator in connection with power outages during a major winter storm that hit in February. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative filed its bankruptcy petition March 1 in the U.S. Bankruptcy […]

High on the list of Trump administration rules that will be reevaluated by the Biden administration is the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 rule on state water

Responding to rapid changes in the power industry, Exelon Corp. plans to cleave its business into two publicly traded companies: one comprising its six regulated electric and gas utilities, and the other, which it plans to spin off, comprising its 31-GW competitive generation fleet and customer-facing businesses.  The separation—which the company’s Board of Directors approved […]

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) “Secret Science” rule establishing new standards for consideration of certain “pivotal” scientific studies, which was slated to go into effect on Jan. 6 of this year, has been vacated and remanded by the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana. The decision reached Feb. 1 impacts the power generation […]

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will resume an environmental review for the 800-MW Vineyard Wind project offshore Massachusetts as part of a larger push by the Department of Interior (DOI), its parent agency, to accelerate development of renewables on public lands and waters.  BOEM, an agency that manages U.S. offshore energy and mineral […]

The 46th president of the United States has officially been sworn in. During his inauguration address President Joe Biden spoke of unity, empathy, and the challenges Americans must face together. Challenges indeed abound for Biden’s incoming environmental and energy team, including New Mexico congresswoman Deb Haaland as Interior Secretary, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm as […]

The body that regulates the interstate transmission of oil, electricity, and natural gas has signaled its willingness to approve regional grid operator plans that incorporate carbon pricing into their rate

Even in a pandemic, energy innovators are developing blockchain technology to implement powerful changes. From automating crude oil trading to amplifying the impact of renewable energy sources, innovations harnessing blockchain technology are likely to change the energy industry in profound ways. Inventors, enterprises, and investors who act today to obtain patent protection for their early […]

In a milestone settlement that could resolve Duke Energy’s “last remaining major issues” on coal ash management in North Carolina, the utility has agreed to absorb $1.1 billion in cleanup costs anticipated between 2015 and 2030.  The proposed settlement, which Duke Energy filed with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) on Jan. 25, is a […]

President Biden has signed executive orders designed to move the U.S. to carbon neutrality by midcentury, part of a $2 trillion plan that would overhaul the nation’s electricity and transportation sectors. The president’s plan, outlined Jan. 27, focuses on climate change and includes a White House task force that would direct policies on greenhouse gas […]

Christopher Hanson, a nuclear energy government and industry veteran, has taken the helm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The designation by President Joe Biden on Jan. 23 may provide a boost to the administration’s climate initiatives, experts told POWER.  Hanson, a Democrat, is expected to fill the role for remainder of his five-year term […]

Over the last several years, cyber actors and online criminal gangs have used cyber warfare to disrupt business and infrastructure across the globe. Today, they are becoming even more aggressive and are using their resources to target Operations Technology (OT) and Industrial Control System (ICS) networks. According to the Canadian government’s Canadian Centre for Cyber […]

President Joe Biden just hours after his inauguration effected an immediate freeze on several Trump-era deregulatory actions that directly affect the power sector, and revoked a long list of rules and executive actions affecting the bulk power system. The president on Jan. 20 also kickstarted America’s return to the Paris Agreement, sending a brief letter […]

General Electric (GE) has filed a lawsuit accusing “willful and malicious misappropriation of GE’s trade secrets” by Siemens Energy, charging that a current Siemens employee “knowingly and surreptitiously” received GE intellectual property, which led to Siemens using the information to improve its own bids for lucrative contracts supplying gas turbines to utilities. GE in the […]

The Trump administration’s final rule interpreting the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) to not prohibit the incidental take (accidental injury or death) of migratory birds recently hatched. But with the Biden administration taking the regulatory reins on Jan. 20, 2021, this lame-duck regulation will be quickly grounded. COMMENTARY Anticipating this, power companies should remain vigilant […]

As we get closer to the presidential inauguration, and with President-elect Biden’s announcement of his Cabinet picks for the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Department of the Interior (Interior), we begin the inevitable hypothesizing about which “Day 1 actions” will be taken, which actions will be among the administration’s “100 […]

The power purchase agreement, commonly called a PPA, is a fundamental element to the development, construction, and financing of power generation projects. Like many things in the power industry, the PPA is

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in September issued Order 2222, a final rule to remove barriers for distributed energy resource (DER) aggregators to participate in the wholesale capacity

The Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a “prohibition order” in line with President Trump’s May 2020 broad bulk power system (BPS) security executive order (EO 13920) that will ban some utility procurement of specific grid equipment from China.  When it takes effect on Jan. 16, 2021, the Dec. 17–issued “Prohibition Order Securing Critical Defense […]

The leader of North Carolina’s agency overseeing environmental issues in that state will be nominated to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), POWER learned on Dec. 17. Michael Regan, 44, who previously worked at EPA and has served with the North Carolina Dept. of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) since 2017, is expected to be nominated […]

The U.S. Senate on Nov. 30 confirmed Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) nominees Allison Clements and Mark Christie, filling out all five seats at the helm of the federal energy regulator with a bipartisan panel for the first time in nearly two years.  Clements, a Democrat, replaces former Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur for a term that […]

Over its 50-year history, several rules issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reshaped the power sector. But for at least a few modern rules, the road has been full of turns. Notes: CAA = Clean Air Act; BSER = best system of emission reduction; CO2 = carbon dioxide; GHG = greenhouse gases; […]

In the late 1960s, the U.S. was facing an environmental crisis. Air pollution was a serious problem in cities across the country, industrial activities and the widespread use of hazardous pesticides were

Harold E. “Ed” Patricoff and Ana Sarmento The global trend toward renewable energy is undeniable and commendable. In 2018, 10Power announced that it would work to create commercial-scale solar and energy

Although there is only one nuclear power plant construction project in progress today in the U.S., that doesn’t mean the nuclear industry has gone dormant. A lot of research and development are ongoing, and the federal government is putting millions of dollars behind some of the efforts. The Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program “The Department of […]

An assortment of entities have sought to intervene in a complaint alleging that the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and California state agencies violated bulk power system reliability standards when they approved retirement of the 2,240-MW Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) by 2025.  Before the comment deadline on Nov. 16, at least 15 entities sought intervention […]

Legislation introduced on Nov. 17 by a bipartisan group of senators on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) will seek to strengthen the nuclear fuel supply chain, help incentivize commercial deployment of new reactor designs, and create a credit program to preserve existing nuclear reactors at risk of premature shutdown.  The American […]

These Ten Steps May Help Power Companies Avoid Headaches, Delays, Higher Costs, and Legal Complications Jacqueline Greenberg Vogt, Esq. and Robert C. Epstein, Esq. The International Energy Agency projects the rapid growth of renewables, with solar at the center of this new constellation of electricity generation technologies. Hydropower remains the largest renewable source of electricity, […]

Joe Biden on Nov. 7 clinched the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency, barring Donald Trump’s prospects for a second-term. Almost immediately, reactions from various parts of the power sector streamed in, highlighting possibilities and pitfalls of Biden’s wide-ranging energy and environment agenda.  Energy, and its implications on the environment, figured prominently as […]