Legal & Regulatory

No one can accuse the officials who oversee California’s energy market of lacking ambition. Fresh on the heels of Gov. Jerry Brown’s January promise to raise the state’s renewable generation target from 33% in 2020 to 50% in 2030, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) in April announced that it and Oregon utility and Berkshire […]

This summer, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will finalize its Clean Power Plan under Section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act, requiring existing fossil fuel–fired electric generating units (EGUs) to cut carbon dioxide emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030. The rule will require states to meet specific reduction goals and also allow states […]

Reliability of the bulk power system may not be as sexy as news of “got-rich-quick” energy traders and alleged insidious market manipulation. But for those on the ground balancing the practicalities of ensuring electricity arrives when and where it is needed with a carousal of mandatory regulations, it can be every bit as interesting. Cue […]

If ever there were a case of winning all the battles and losing the war, it would be the saga of the long-delayed-and-now-probably-dead Cape Wind offshore wind project in Massachusetts. As I wrote last year

One oft-cited roadblock to widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEV) is a lack of charging infrastructure, commonly referred to as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), or charging stations. While Tesla is well known for designing electric vehicles that can travel more than 250 miles on a single charge, most PEVs can only travel 60 […]

Oregon and Washington State are examining new policies to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. We expect to see extension of Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program at the top of the 2015 legislative agenda and

When Allison MacFarlane, the outgoing chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), abruptly announced her retirement in mid-October—leaving with almost four years left on her term—her stated

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) serves as the gatekeeper to wholesale power markets in interstate commerce. The process to obtain and retain authority to sell into these markets at market-based rates (MBR) can be onerous. Any failure to fully comply with FERC’s regulations could result in participation restrictions and civil penalties of up to […]

Unbundled Renewable Energy Credits and the Benefits of Standardization Unbundled renewable energy credits and certificates (RECs) separate the renewable, or green, component of energy from the actual

At the graveyard wherein resides the “nuclear renaissance” of the 2000s, a new occupant appears to be moving in: the small modular reactor (SMR). This is a statement that might have appeared nonsensical even a year ago. SMRs looked to be the Next Big Thing in nuclear, a way to circumvent the biggest obstacle to […]