Energy Legal Blog

As we enter 2Q09, entities across all sectors of the energy industry are growing anxious to see how—and when—federal agencies will open the spigot on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funds. For its part, the Energy Department answered in two requests for proposals. (more…)

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) completed Monday its review of EPA’s proposed finding under the Clean Air Act that emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) endanger public health and welfare and concluded that the so-called “endangerment finding” will not in itself significantly affect the economy.  OMB’s conclusion clears the way for EPA to begin regulating GHG emissions from sources subject to the Act.  Notwithstanding OMB’s narrow analysis and conclusion, future regulation of anthropogenic GHGs is expected to have profound and far-reaching economic effects. (more…)

After protracted delays, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) launched operations in its long-awaited, new wholesale market on April 1, 2009.  The ISO touted its new “Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade” (MRTU) market as making the wholesale power grid in California “more high-tech, friendlier to diverse resources, and sending key signals for when and where to expand infrastructure.”  The ISO also believes the new market will allow it to be more efficient at buying, selling, and delivering power, and to prepare for technological advances in the future, such as smart grid and demand response technology.  Among the new features in the MRTU market are:  (1) a day-ahead energy market; (2) a full network model that analyzes generation and transmission schedules a day in advance to manage or avoid bottlenecks in real-time; (3) locational marginal pricing, which prices electricity based on the costs of generating and delivering electricity at particular locations; and (4) financial transmission rights (known as “congestion revenue rights”). (more…)