With increasing pressure to fight climate change, scientists, and leaders agree that carbon capture, use, and storage (CCUS) is a cost-effective solution to meet emissions goals made under the Paris Agreement. 

In his interview with Hart Energy, Latham partner JP Brisson discusses how aggressive efforts are needed to meet the net-zero goal, but oil and gas companies are making significant progress in deploying CCUS projects at scale.

Watch the video.

The split ruling may have broader implications for FERC’s stance toward state-sponsored resources.

By Michael J. Gergen, Tyler Brown, and Peter R. Viola

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved ISO New England Inc.’s (ISO-NE’s) two-stage capacity market proposal, Competitive Auctions with Sponsored Policy Resources (CASPR), by a 3-2 vote, with Chairman Kevin McIntyre and Commissioners Cheryl LaFleur and Neil Chatterjee voting in support, and Commissioners Robert Powelson and Richard Glick voting against. FERC issued an order (CASPR Order) on March 9, 2018, accepting ISO-NE’s proposed tariff revisions largely unchanged. The bulk of the revisions took effect on March 9, 2018 and the remainder will take effect on June 1, 2018.

ISO-NE originally released CASPR as a set of proposed changes to its Transmission, Markets, and Services Tariff in April 2017. (Additional details can be found in this Latham blog post.) Following a series of stakeholder meetings, ISO-NE filed its proposed tariff revisions with FERC in January 2018 pursuant to section 205 of the Federal Power Act (FPA), arguing that the proposed revisions were just and reasonable and not unduly discriminatory. ISO-NE designed CASPR to balance competitive pricing in the organization’s three-year Forward Capacity Market (FCM) with the entry of state-sponsored renewable electric energy resources into the FCM.

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s much-anticipated new rule will enhance the participation of electric storage resources in the organized wholesale electricity markets.

By Michael Gergen, David E. Pettit, and Peter Viola

Nearly a year and a half after issuing its original proposal, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) has unanimously adopted its final rule—Order No. 841—on Electric Storage Participation in Markets Operated by Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators (Storage Rule). The Storage Rule is the culmination of FERC’s proceedings following the notice of proposed rulemaking issued in November 2016 (Storage NOPR) whereby FERC originally proposed enhancing the participation of electric storage resources in the organized capacity, energy, and ancillary service auction markets operated by Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operators (ISOs).

The Storage Rule recognizes the improving capabilities and cost-competitiveness of electric storage resources (such as batteries, flywheels, pumped-hydro, etc.) and is designed to further pave the way for such resources to participate in the organized wholesale electricity markets alongside conventional energy sources. At the same time, the Commission determined that further information is needed about proposed reforms related to market participation of aggregations of distributed energy resources (DERs) in the RTO/ISO markets. The Commission therefore directed FERC staff to convene a technical conference on April 10-11, 2018 to gather additional information before deciding what action to take on those proposals.

By Michael Gergen, David Pettit and Christopher Randall

The CPUC’s market-shaping decision provides guidance regarding the “stacking” of multiple electricity system services.

A new decision from the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California (CPUC) has set the stage for improved economic viability for California’s energy storage industry. The January 17 decision — Decision 18-01-003 in Rulemaking 15-03-011 (the Decision) — establishes a set of rules to guide utilities on how to “promote the ability of storage resources to realize their full economic value when they are capable of providing multiple [or ‘stacked’] benefits and services to the electricity system.”

To advance this objective, the CPUC has adopted 11 stacking rules to govern the evaluation of multiple-use energy storage applications, as well as associated definitions of services and service “domains.” The agency also established a working group to develop certain issues further and directed the CPUC’s Energy Division to prepare a report in 2018 on the state of the energy storage industry.

By Marc Campopiano, Kelley Gale and Michael Sullivan

Recent trends demonstrate a rapid growth in corporations directly buying renewable energy from wind, solar and other renewable energy generators. Renewable energy capacity under corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) doubled each year from 2012 to 2015. For wind energy generation, corporate purchasers constituted 52% of capacity contracted through PPAs in 2015, up from only 5% in 2013. Many corporations are looking to increase reliance on renewable power to meet internal sustainability or environmental policies, and dramatic decreases in renewable costs have increasingly made renewables competitive with traditional power sources. The long-term nature of most PPAs can be attractive to businesses seeking the stability of fixed electricity costs, while renewable developers gain a dependable off-taker, often a critical component of securing financing.

This trend was punctuated by the recent announcement by MGM Resorts International that it plans to pay $86.9 million for the ability to exit Nevada Power’s utility service and purchase its own electricity on the wholesale market. Some states, including Nevada, require approval from state regulators and the payment of an exit fee before being able to purchase power directly from generators across utility transmission lines. As the largest purchaser of energy from Nevada Power (at nearly 5% of annual energy sales), MGM determined it was worth paying the substantial exit fee to control its ability to directly purchase renewable power.

By Joshua Bledsoe and Max Friedman

After a lengthy process of policy review and revision, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) re-adopted the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) on September 25, 2015. The LCFS is expected to contribute approximately 20% of the statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions required by 2020 under Assembly Bill 32. Moreover, the LCFS has been identified by Governor Brown as a key regulatory tool both to reduce petroleum consumption 50% by 2030

By Marc T. Campopiano, Joshua T. Bledsoe, Douglas Porter, Danny AleshireJennifer Roy and Andrew Yancey

The end of the California State Legislature’s regular session for the year culminated in a frenzy of action, with Assembly members scrambling to pass dozens of bills before midnight on September 12, 2015. The California Legislature voted on a package of 12 bills addressing environmental and health concerns, such as off-shore drilling, divestment of investment funding from coal companies, water quality, energy efficiency in disadvantaged communities, and increased public transportation. This post analyzes three of the more significant and controversial bills proposed this year, including last minute changes to each during the final week of the session: SB 350; SB 32; and AB 1288.

SB 350 (De León): The Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015

The most far-reaching climate change goals of the climate bill package were enshrined in SB 350. The proposed bill, authored by Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin de León and Senator Mark Leno, originally called for a 50 percent reduction in petroleum use in cars and trucks, a 50 percent increase in energy efficiency in buildings, and for 50 percent of the state’s utility power to be derived from renewable energy, all by 2030; termed the “50-50-50” formula.

These standards paralleled Governor Jerry Brown’s climate change agenda for the year, which was first announced during his inaugural address in January. Last Wednesday, following a failure to garner the necessary votes amid resistance from moderate Democrats, state legislative leaders amended SB 350 to drop requirements for a 50 percent reduction in petroleum use for cars and trucks. As modified, the bill passed on a 52-27 vote.

By Joshua T. Bledsoe, Marc T. Campopiano, and Max Friedman

As California begins to turn the page on the first chapter of its efforts to combat climate change through AB 32 and to prepare for greater emissions reductions over the coming decades, the California Energy Commission (CEC) and California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) are considering what these changes will mean for electricity transmission infrastructure. To that end, CEC Chair Robert Weisenmiller and CPUC President Michael Picker sent a letter to Cal-ISO President and CEO Stephen Berberich on July 31, 2015 asking him to participate in the planning stages of the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) 2.0. Since 2008, the first iteration of RETI has served as a statewide initiative to identify and implement the energy transmission projects needed to accommodate California’s renewable energy requirements.

Now, with Governor Brown’s executive order to cut California’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a number of legislative proposals advancing to set further greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets for 2030 and beyond, as well as the US EPA’s federal Clean Power Plan encouraging regional coordination among states to increase renewable electricity production, the CEC and CPUC feel that the time has come to bring RETI up to date.

By Michael J. Gergen, Joshua T. Bledsoe, David E. Pettit and Tara L. Rice

President Obama recently announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Program Office (LPO) is expanding support for innovative “distributed energy projects” by adding $1 billion in available loan guarantees to support the deployment of these projects through the existing solicitations for Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects and Advanced Fossil Energy Projects.  Eligible projects could include energy storage, smart grid technologies, cogeneration and methane capture for oil and natural gas wells, as well as roof-top solar and energy efficiency technologies that meet certain “innovation” requirements. For example, roof-top solar projects that are combined with storage may be eligible.

The LPO also is targeting distributed energy developers with special supplements to these two pending solicitations that make clear that existing program authority under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and resources may be used to accelerate the deployment of distributed energy projects. The credit enhancement available through DOE’s LPO traditionally has been used to support utility-scale energy projects. In recognition of the important role of distributed energy in the future of US energy markets, the LPO is making a concerted effort to marshal program resources to support innovation in this growing segment.