FERC Proposes Policy Statement Encouraging RTOs/ISOs to Develop Rules Incorporating State Determined Carbon Prices

Posted on: October 19, 2020 By: Scott Segal, Michael Brooks, Boris Shkuta
On October 15, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) issued a Proposed Policy Statement regarding carbon pricing in organized wholesale electricity markets. In short, the statement would clarify that the Commission has “jurisdiction over RTO/ISO market rules that incorporate a state-determined carbon price.” The Commission also proposes that it be Commission policy “to encourage efforts to incorporate a state-determined carbon price in RTO/ISO markets.” Commissioner Danly dissented in part, agreeing that FERC has jurisdiction “to entertain section 205...
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Power
FERC
Carbon

Update on State of Texas NPDES Application to Issue Federal Discharge Permits for Oil and Gas Facilities

Posted on: October 15, 2020 By: Sara Burgin
EPA Review Process On October 12, 2020, Region 6 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) received a delegation request from the State of Texas seeking authority to issue federal permits for discharges of produced water, hydrostatic test water and gas plant effluent from certain oil and gas activities into water in the state. The State of Texas (“State”) submitted the delegation request pursuant to the requirements of House Bill 2771, 86 th Texas Legislature, 2019. The EPA review of the delegation request will proceed under 40 CFR Part 123. Under Section 123.61(b), within...
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EPA
Environmental
Environment
Oil & Gas

TCEQ Accepting Comments on Proposed Changes to Penalty Policy

Posted on: October 12, 2020 By: Whit Swift, Matt Paulson
At a September 24, 2020 Work Session, TCEQ Executive Director Toby Baker sought approval from the TCEQ Commissioners to propose changes to the TCEQ’s Penalty Policy (RG-253) that will give the agency discretion to significantly increase administrative penalties for certain violations. The TCEQ formally opened the public comment period on the proposed changes on September 30, 2020, and will be accepting public comments on the proposed changes through October 30, 2020. The TCEQ Penalty Policy establishes the policies that the agency uses in calculating penalties for purposes of administrative...
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Environment

FERC Issues Landmark Order on Distributed Energy Resources

Posted on: September 22, 2020 By: Blake Urban, Stephen Hug, Catherine McCarthy
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued a landmark final rule, Order No. 2222 , at its September 17, 2020 open meeting that aims to remove barriers for distributed energy resources (“DER”) to participate in wholesale markets regulated by FERC through aggregators. As defined by FERC, DER is “any resource located on the distribution system, any subsystem thereof or behind a customer meter.” [1] DER, thus, refers to resources that provide electricity near the point of use as opposed to centralized generation sources from utility-scale power plants that are often...
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Organized Markets
Power
Renewable Energy
FERC

FERC Redefines QF Eligibility Requirements

Posted on: September 8, 2020 By: Stephen Hug, Catherine McCarthy, Boris Shkuta
On September 1, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued an order breaking with decades of precedent regarding how it will determine whether a renewable resource is eligible for certification as a qualifying small power production facility (“QF”) pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, as amended (“PURPA”). [1] The result of the Commission’s order is that renewable resources will no longer have the ability to qualify for QF status by voluntarily limiting their output to comply with the 80 MW cap on small power production facilities...
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Power
Renewable Energy
FERC

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