FERC Proposes Significant Reforms to its QF Regulations

Posted on: September 25, 2019 By: Blake Urban, Catherine McCarthy, Stephen Hug
On September 19, 2019, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) [1] proposing significant changes to FERC’s regulations governing qualifying facilities (“QFs”) [2] pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, as amended (“PURPA”). [3] If implemented as proposed, the changes would significantly scale back some of the benefits afforded to many QFs, particularly small QFs. FERC considers the proposed changes appropriate due to changed circumstances since Congress enacted PURPA in 1978, including “sweeping...
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FERC

LNG in Europe: Current Trends, the European LNG Landscape and Country Focus

Posted on: September 16, 2019 By: Nina Howell, Guest author: Ryan Pereira, Gaffney, Cline & Associates
Overview This article provides an overview of current trends in the European LNG market, describes the status of the pan-Europe LNG landscape, and looks at recent activities in individual European LNG-importing countries. Current Trends in the European LNG Market Growth of LNG Supply to Europe: Global LNG trade is buoyant due to a wave of new sources of LNG supply. What were historically distinct, regional LNG markets are becoming increasingly interconnected as the global LNG market evolves and diversifies. Against this background, Europe’s LNG import terminals are gaining momentum and...
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Natural Gas/LNG

EPA Repeals Obama Rule Defining Waters of the U.S.

Posted on: September 13, 2019 By: Ann Navaro, Sara Burgin, Daniel Pope
On Thursday, September 12, EPA General Counsel Matt Leopold announced EPA’s final rule repealing the 2015 Waters of the United States (“WOTUS”) Rule. Significantly, General Counsel Leopold did not announce the final replacement WOTUS Rule, which was proposed in February of this year; the replacement rule remains at the final rule stage as EPA revises the rule in light of public comment. A recent interview with Administrator Wheeler indicates that it will be a few months before the replacement rule is finalized. The 2015 WOTUS Rule, also called the Clean Water Rule , significantly extended the...
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Water
EPA

The end of LIBOR: The search for a new benchmark interest rate for Project Agreements

Posted on: August 22, 2019 By: Oliver Irwin, Tom Swarbrick
Often referred to as “the world’s most important number”, the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) is used as the reference interest rate for a range of commercial and financial contracts worth hundreds of trillions of dollars globally. Partly as a consequence of the changing nature of financial markets, and partly as a response to high profile rate-rigging scandals, the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority announced in 2017 that it did not expect LIBOR to remain as an acceptable benchmark for the setting of interest rates beyond 2021. Industry bodies and regulators around the world are now...
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Finance
Oil & Gas
Power

CFTC v. Kraft Dispute Continues with CFTC on Defensive

Posted on: August 20, 2019 By: Michael Brooks, Bob Pease, Josh Robichaud
Following the August 15 2019 public announcement of a settlement between the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Kraft Foods Group, Inc./Mondelez Global, LLC (together “Kraft”), the parties appeared on August 19 before the Honorable John Robert Blakey on a sealed motion for contempt, sanctions and other relief filed by Kraft. This controversy stems primarily from a provision included in the Consent Order that limits the parties’ ability to talk about the case except in legal proceedings, testimony, or by court order. [1] During the hearing, the CFTC appears to have agreed to...
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Commodities
CFTC
Litigation

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