Legal & Regulatory

Power plant managers are familiar with selective catalytic reduction (SCR), a technology to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides from fossil-fueled generating plants. Starting in 2010, SCR technology, using a urea reagent, will also be required on new diesel-powered vehicles in utility fleets, ranging from light-duty pickups to 18-wheelers.

With the U.S. economy currently in a free fall, some utility industry leaders and elected officials argue that carbon cap legislation should be put on hold while the country recovers financially. However, President Barack Obama has a different game plan.

A confluence of circumstances promised to make 2008 a transformative year for renewable energy in the U.S. States enacted additional, and more demanding, renewable portfolio standards, promoting accelerated and sustained development of "green" energy resources. Increasing concerns about global warming and climate change prompted some of this activity. However, the unprecedented escalation of oil prices to almost $150 a barrel (translating into prices at the pump in excess of $4) was the largest impetus for demands that this nation end its addiction to fossil fuels.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed an executive order expanding the state’s renewables portfolio standard (RPS) requirement to 33% by 2020. The executive order formalizes what has been generally assumed for some time: A 33% RPS requirement will be needed for California to achieve its ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals.

An attendee at a recent industry conference made the cynical observation that the dysfunctionality of our national and state energy policies can be attributed to the fact that implementation of any program is subject to institutional limitations akin to those imposed by the "Articles of Confederation." Readers may recall that the Articles preceded the Constitution as the governing compact for the 13 original states.

On Sept. 12, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and California Energy Commission (CEC) took the next step in the implementation of Assembly Bill (AB) 32, California’s ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – reduction initiative, with the release of a 300-page proposed decision on GHG regulatory strategies.

How often do you get a clash between two great Lone Star icons?

This November, as part of California’s eclectic version of participatory democracy, its residents will vote on whether to amend the Solar and Clean Energy Act of 2008. Proposition No. 7 (Prop 7) promises to place the state on “the path to energy independence.” It would require all California electric utilities, including municipals, to procure 50% […]

The California Air Resources Board (ARB) recently issued its long-awaited draft Climate Change Scoping Plan (Draft Plan) for implementing Assembly Bill (AB) 32, California’s ambitious greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions-reduction initiative. AB 32 requires California to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020—roughly a 30% reduction in projected “business-as-usual” emissions levels or 168 million metric […]

By Steven F. Greenwald and Jeffrey P. Gray David Crane, the CEO of NRG Energy, was recently quoted in a widely disseminated publication as saying: “It is a moral imperative that we take steps to reduce CO2 concentration in the earth’s atmosphere.” One might expect those reacting to Crane’s comments (made in a February 2007 […]