Legal & Regulatory

More and more electricity is generated by natural gas. This trend is likely to persist. Hydraulic fracturing technology is increasing domestic supplies and enabling natural gas prices to remain at historic lows.

Last October, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that it was seeking a record $470 million penalty against Barclays Bank for manipulating California energy markets for several years in the late 2000s. The amount includes a $435 million fine as well as disgorgement of $35 million in profits Barclays gained from allegedly illegal trading. In addition, FERC levied hefty fines against several individual Barclays traders.

As 2013 opens, the coal industry is waiting anxiously on a variety of proposals for regulating coal ash. A reclassification as hazardous waste could deal another blow to coal, but some industry observers suspect the worst is not yet to come.

A 2007 study sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security confirmed some of the industry’s worst fears about the grid’s vulnerability to terrorist attack. That study has remained under wraps until recently–and its findings are even worse than you may suspect.

Combined heat and power offers many advantages for distributed generation. But leveraging them requires some careful planning and forethought.

President Obama enters 2013 with a solid win in his pocket—and a host of challenges and decisions awaiting him.

The pendulum has recently swung back against nuclear as gas-fired power has surged in response to low prices and abundant supplies. Can nuclear ever regain its edge?

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) recently kicked off a new era in its cap-and-trade program designed to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) when it held its first GHG emissions allowance auction on November 14. While CARB pronounced the auction a success, the low price and lukewarm demand for allowances evidences market reticence to fully embrace the program.

In 2002, California enacted legislation authorizing municipalities to establish Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) programs. In September 2012, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted “CleanPowerSF” to be the CCA program available for city residents. Its supporters describe CleanPowerSF as “a 100% renewable energy alternative.” Supervisor David Campos exalted that CleanPowerSF “will stimulate the local economy, create jobs and most importantly secure our independent, clean energy future.”

With the power industry already facing a completely new, government-mandated approach to cybersecurity, CIPS 5, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has launched another regulatory venture that will result in a new set of reliability standards—this one designed to protect the bulk power system from solar storms.