Legal & Regulatory

Making sense out of the NERC cyber security rules is inherently difficult; the ever-changing regulatory scene makes it even harder. With Version 4 now in hand, Version 5 is on the way.

In December 1973, President Richard Nixon explained to the American people his administration’s critical initiative to confront the “energy crisis” du jour (precipitated by the 1973–74 Arab oil embargo): “Many [energy savings measures] require inconvenience and sacrifice. But daylight saving time… will mean only a minimum of inconvenience and will involve equal participation by all. […]

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a long history of making waves with the electric power industry because of its efforts to regulate the way thermal power plants construct and operate their cooling water intake structures (CWIS). These structures divert billions of gallons of water into power plants’ cooling systems and can injure or kill billions of aquatic organisms.

We are hot and heavy into election season, and there is a lot of buzz about “jobs.” We hear about job-killing regulations (mostly from Republicans) and the wonders of green jobs (mostly from Democrats). All this, of course, is aimed at tying favored policy options to something the average voter can understand, the need for […]

California is approaching a tipping point with respect to the near-term economic viability of existing non-utility generation. The procurement policies and practices implemented in response to the statewide energy crisis over a decade ago have evolved into market conditions that do not offer “uncontracted” existing resources with sufficient and stable enough revenue streams to recover going-forward costs. Continued adherence to these policies will subject such resources to an increasing risk of economic retirement, threatening long-term reliability and potentially costing electric consumers billions of dollars.

California’s Cap-and-Trade Program is the only cross-industry, market-based climate change regulatory program in the United States. This program may provide a good investment opportunity for dairy farmers, livestock owners, and others if the program’s Livestock Project protocol for offsets can get off the ground and maintain a viable price for greenhouse gas (GHG) allowances.

Consider state clean energy funds as potential replacement funding sources for future clean energy projects.

Washington’s greenhouse gang has learned that global warming is a losing issue. They’re back with a new strategy.


While the proposed federal renewable portfolio standards (RPS) continue to be caught in Washington gridlock, a number of states are aggressively enacting programs that promote renewable energy, such as wind and solar power.

As a Valentine’s Day present to federal regulators, San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera took the unusual step of suing the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). The complaint alleges that the PHMSA has “abjectly failed to oversee the [California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC’s)] pipeline safety program or to ensure that federal pipeline safety standards are enforced.” The complaint chastises the PHMSA for “shirking that duty for over a decade, if not longer.”

A universal reality for U.S. power generation developers is the challenge of obtaining funding in today’s tight credit markets.

A year has passed since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was destroyed by earthquake and tsunami. What is the economic price Japan must pay?

When the Soviet Union’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded in 1986, the response of the Western nuclear industry was, “It can’t happen here.” And then there was Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011. Was one disaster worse than the other?

The EU has poured billions of dollars in support of the development of wind and solar projects over the past decade. Have the Europeans now lost their appetite for all things green?

The rapid growth of gas extraction by hydraulic fracturing has drawn increasing allegations of property damage and health risks. In many cases, these allegations are being followed by a wave of lawsuits.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule for power plants has critics’ tempers flaring. Not surprisingly, a number of electric power representatives, industry groups, and elected officials oppose the rule, which was released on Dec. 21, 2011.

In discussing implementation by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) of California’s new renewable energy law, CPUC Commissioner Timothy Alan Simon urged consideration of the economic, technical, and political consequences of the CPUC’s actions: “Renewable energy is a fuel source—it’s not a religion.” The promotion of renewable energy remains critical, but as Commissioner Simon admonishes, […]

Gas turbines are expensive. Although peaking units aren’t as costly as baseload units, letting them sit idle is still a waste. Yet that is what peaking units spend nearly all their time doing. Some operators only fire up their units a few days a year. That is like putting money in the bank and collecting interest a few hours at a time, rather than all year round. That strategy only works when the payback is extremely high for those short periods.

Energy professionals and the general population are both acutely aware of the explosion of a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E) natural gas pipeline in San Bruno, Calif., that led to the death of eight people and the total destruction of 38 homes in September 2010. The tragic accident garnered immediate national attention, thrusting the natural gas industry into the spotlight. The California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) Independent Review Panel neatly encapsulated the sentiment surrounding the event: “The fact that a large segment of pipe literally blew out of the ground in an urban neighborhood and the residents were generally unaware of the proximity of a high-pressure natural gas transmission system to their homes—raises significant public safety concerns.”

Water has long been energy production’s silent partner. In the past, we Americans seemed to take it for granted that plentiful water supplies would be available for a variety of energy needs ranging from the operations of coal-fired power plants to natural gas production activities.

As less is heard about the promise of new nuclear reactors in the U.S., more is being heard about the problems of the geriatric atomic set.

As last winter’s abundant snowfall in the Pacific Northwest melted, rivers swelled and hydroelectric operators enjoyed substantial increases in generation. That bountiful clean and cheap power generation was a blessing, but it also triggered a host of legal issues.

Quin Shea, vice president, environment for the Edison Electric Institute, comments on the Utility MACT rule that is expected to be finalized in November.

What’s on the agenda for the utility industry today and into the future? Platts and Capgemini asked the industry leadership in their latest survey. The answers revolve around regulation, finance, and human resources.

Uncertainty about China’s role in world trade and its current monopoly over critical rare earth minerals continues to roil supply chains in energy technology markets. Will the World Trade Organization bring China into the fold, or will China ignore the international forum that it lobbied hard to join several years ago?

From the East Coast to the Lone Star State, a number of elected officials and power industry representatives are bashing the new aggressive regulation aimed at controlling specific power plant emissions. Complying with a federal court mandate, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) on July 6. The new […]

It is time for the renewable integration discussion to move beyond simply identifying the challenges of ensuring reliability in a nation increasingly served by intermittent renewable resources and toward developing real-world solutions to these challenges.

Both the 1979 Three Mile Island accident and the Chernobyl catastrophe prompted worldwide retreats away from nuclear electric generating technologies. Despite brave rhetoric from nuclear supporters around the world, a number of countries with a large number of nuclear plants are having second thoughts about the future of nuclear power.

How easy is it to hack a generator’s SCADA system? It’s so easy it scares the heck out of the guy who used to run network security for the Bonneville Power Administration. It’s so easy he can’t tell us any details, for security reasons. That’s why we should all be scared.