Guarding the Grid: DOE Releases 100-Day Cybersecurity Pilot Program

Posted on: April 21, 2021 By: Philip Bezanson, Claire Cahoon, Catherine McCarthy, Joshua Zive
The February 2021 hack into Oldsmar, Florida’s water treatment system is a frightening reminder that critical infrastructure systems can be vulnerable to cyberattacks and that cyberattacks can jeopardize health and safety. In this case, the hack may have spurred government action. On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced a 100-day plan “to advance technologies and systems that will provide cyber visibility, detection, and response capabilities for industrial control of electric utilities.” In a coordinated effort among the Department of Energy (“DOE”), the Cybersecurity and...
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Power

FERC Issues Carbon Pricing Policy

Posted on: April 19, 2021 By: Stephen Hug, Michael Brooks, Craig Jones
On April 15, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued its much anticipated policy statement on carbon pricing in organized markets. [1] The non-binding policy statement provides guidance regarding the manner in which FERC will evaluate proposals submitted pursuant to Section 205 [2] of the Federal Power Act (“FPA”) to establish market rules for incorporating a state-determined carbon price into organized markets operated by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators (“RTO”). In the policy statement, FERC observes that RTOs are...
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Power
Organized Markets
FERC

FERC Refines DER Wholesale Market Participation Rules

Posted on: March 24, 2021 By: Blake Urban, Michael Brooks, Stephen Hug, Catherine McCarthy
On March 18, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued an order on rehearing of its landmark final rule, Order No. 2222, pertaining to the participation of distributed energy resources (“DER”) through an aggregator in FERC-jurisdictional Regional Transmission Organization (“RTO”) and Independent System Operator (“ISO”) organized markets. [1] While FERC largely kept Order No. 2222 intact, Order No. 2222-A did refine and clarify certain aspects of Order No. 2222. The significant refinements made through Order No. 2222-A include: Refinements on information sharing and the...
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Power
FERC

FERC Reverses Broadview on Rehearing; Reinstates Focus on Output in Evaluating 80 MW Cap for QFs

Posted on: March 24, 2021 By: Catherine McCarthy, Stephen Hug, Boris Shkuta
On March 19, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued an Order Addressing Arguments Raised on Rehearing and Setting Aside Prior Order in Broadview Solar, LLC , 174 FERC ¶ 61,199 (2021) (“ Broadview 2021 ”). The order, which is highly favorable to the renewable energy industry, reversed FERC’s September 1, 2020 holdings in Broadview Solar, LLC , 172 FERC ¶ 61,194 (2020) (“ Broadview 2020 ”) that the evaluation of whether a project complies with the 80 MW limit on the power production capacity of a small power production qualifying facility (“QF”) under the...
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Power
Renewable Energy
FERC

FERC Delays Implementation of New MBR Database Reporting Requirements and Clarifies Obligation To Report Upstream Owners

Posted on: March 23, 2021 By: Stephen Hug, Catherine McCarthy, Josh Robichaud, Craig Jones
On March 18, 2021, in response to a petition seeking clarification regarding the treatment of certain institutional investors for purposes of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC” or “Commission”) regulations, FERC issued an order addressing the scope of the obligation of public utilities selling at market-based rates (“MBR”) to identify and report their upstream owners and affiliates. [1] For purposes of the order, FERC defined utilities as including public utility operating companies, such as electric utility companies or transmitting utilities, and holding company systems...
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Power
Electric
FERC

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