FERC Seeks Stakeholder Input on Reactive Power Compensation

Posted on: November 22, 2021 By: Stephen Hug, Rachael Novier Marsh, Catherine McCarthy, Boris Shkuta
On November 18, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a notice of inquiry seeking comment on a broad array of issues related to FERC’s policies respecting compensation to generation owners—including conventional resources, renewable resources, and resources interconnected to the distribution system—for their reactive power capabilities (“NOI”). 1 An NOI is an information-gathering proceeding used by FERC to determine whether to move forward with more formal action to change Commission rules or requirements. Though the issuance of an NOI does not necessarily mean that...
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FERC
Power

Electricity Transmission Provisions in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill

Posted on: November 18, 2021 By: Boris Shkuta, Michael Brooks, Stephen Hug, Rachael Novier Marsh, Catherine McCarthy
On Monday, November 15, 2021, President Biden signed into law the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (the “Act”), commonly referred to as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill. The package provides funding opportunities for a variety of traditional infrastructure projects, including approximately $65 billion for energy and electric grid development. The Act’s energy provisions are diverse, and include opportunities for those investing in grid resilience and reliability, research and development for newer and emerging technologies such as battery storage and hydrogen,...
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Power
FERC
Electric

California: Planning its Offshore Wind Future

Posted on: October 4, 2021 By: Kevin Ewing, Stephen Hug, Ty Johnson, Josh Robichaud, Taylor Stuart
California is jumpstarting its planning for offshore wind. Under newly enacted legislation, Assembly Bill No. 525 (“AB 525”), California agencies are now tasked with identifying the state’s offshore wind goals and with developing a strategic plan to address several issues that have affected offshore wind development on the Eastern seaboard, such as port infrastructure and upgrades, transmission bottlenecks, impacts to other ocean users and communities, and permitting challenges. AB 525 broadly outlines California’s offshore wind strategy and the role of offshore wind in achieving the state’s...
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Renewable Energy
Power

Department of Interior Revokes Migratory Bird Treaty Act Rule

Posted on: September 30, 2021 By: Ann Navaro, Daniel Pope
In an action that will take effect December 3, 2021, the Department of Interior has revoked the 2021 Migratory Bird Treaty Act Rule which defined the types of activities criminalized under the Act. In the revoked rule, issued on January 7, 2021 in the last days of President Trump’s administration, Interior defined prohibited activities under the Act to exclude the incidental—i.e., unintentional—taking of migratory birds. Interior’s action now reverses the agency’s short-lived position on incidental takes (which was first articulated early in the Trump Administration via a Department of the...
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Environment
Environmental

Public Interest? Federal Court Questions USACE Review of Need for Hospital

Posted on: September 16, 2021 By: Ann Navaro, Daniel Pope
On September 9, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio ruled against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in a case styled Friends of the Mahoning River v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , a challenge to a Section 404 permit issued for the construction of a hospital. Although challenges to Section 404 permits are nothing new, this particular case is notable for its treatment of USACE public interest regulations – regulations that apply to all applications for Department of the Army permits by the USACE Regulatory Program. 33 CFR Part 320. Those regulations require...
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Construction
Litigation

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