The proposal would auction off almost 375,000 acres of the Outer Continental Shelf offshore California for wind energy development. By Nikki Buffa, Janice M. Schneider, Nathaniel Glynn, and Brian McCall On May 31, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) for a pair of renewable energy lease sales … Continue Reading
DRECP under review in an effort to alleviate burdens on energy development. By Marc T. Campopiano, Joshua T. Bledsoe, Jennifer K. Roy, and James Erselius The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently issued a notice of intent to review the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) for potential burdens on domestic energy production in California. … Continue Reading
By Marc Campopiano, Josh Bledsoe, Jennifer Roy, and James Erselius Phase I of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) has now been approved, paving the way for streamlined permitting and environmental review of qualified renewable energy projects on Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-administered lands in the Mojave and Colorado/Sonoran desert regions of Southern California. … Continue Reading
By Marc Campopiano, Jennifer Roy, and Francesca Bochner California energy agencies and key stakeholders have finished the first step of a statewide planning process to evaluate transmission needs in the state and the region. This process, called the Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative 2.0 (RETI 2.0), will culminate in recommendations to the legislature on where to … Continue Reading
By Marc T. Campopiano, Joshua T. Bledsoe, Douglas Porter, Danny Aleshire, Jennifer 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 … Continue Reading
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 … Continue Reading
By Michael Carroll, Marc Campopiano and Max Friedman The California Energy Commission (CEC) has released an August 2015 report projecting local reliability shortfalls in the Los Angeles basin planning area as early as 2021. The deficits may require new natural gas power generation to maintain grid reliability. This finding is part of the Integrated Energy … Continue Reading
By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Douglas K. Porter On June 10, 2015, the California Independent System Operator (“CAISO”) released a draft final proposal (the “Expanded Metering and Telemetry Options Phase 2, Distributed Energy Resource Provider”) that, if finalized, would represent an initial step towards a regulatory structure that would result in distributed energy resources (“DERs”) … Continue Reading
By Marc Campopiano, Joshua Bledsoe, Jennifer Roy, James Erselius Phase I of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (“DRECP”) is underway on the 9.8 million acres of public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”). As discussed in our previous post, the four lead agencies responsible for the plan introduced a phased approach to … Continue Reading
By Marc Campopiano, Josh Bledsoe, Jennifer Roy, and James Erselius Concerns from local agencies, industry, and environmental groups over the long-awaited Draft Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”)/Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (“DRECP”)—a renewable energy and conservation plan covering 22.5 million acres of desert located in seven Southern California counties—have caused … Continue Reading
By Michael J. Gergen and Marc T. Campopiano On October 16, 2014, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued an Order on Tariff Revisions, FERC Docket No. ER14-2574, conditionally accepting, with two substantive modifications, tariff changes proposed by the California Independent System Operator (“CAISO”) to establish new flexible resource adequacy capacity (“FRAC”) and must-offer obligation … Continue Reading
By Jennifer Roy, Marc Campopiano and Joshua T. Bledsoe On September 23, 2014, the California Energy Commission (“CEC”), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (“CDFW”), US Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”), and US Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) released the Draft Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS”) for the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan … Continue Reading
By Michael J. Gergen and Andrew H. Meyer On August 1, 2014, the California Independent System Operator (“CAISO”) filed proposed tariff changes at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) in FERC Docket No. ER14-2574 that would establish new flexible resource adequacy capacity (“FRAC”) and must-offer obligation (“MOO”) requirements aimed at ensuring that adequate flexible capacity … Continue Reading
By Michael J. Gergen, Eli Hopson, and Andrew H. Meyer The California Independent System Operator (“CAISO”) is moving forward with a stakeholder initiative to examine issues with connecting energy storage facilities to the CAISO controlled grid under the CAISO’s existing interconnection rules, and to develop new policies as needed to clarify and facilitate interconnection of energy … Continue Reading
By Marc Campopiano and Tim Henderson On March 11, 2013, the California Energy Commission (CEC) released a proposed Seventh Edition of the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) Eligibility Guidebook (proposed Guidebook). As we discussed in a previous blog entry, on March 28, 2012, the CEC suspended the RPS eligibility of power plants generating electricity using biomethane. … Continue Reading
By Jared W. Johnson As we detailed in prior commentary, almost two years ago, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill (SB) 2 1X (2011), which increased California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 33% by 2020. Among the features of SB 2 1X was the expansion of the RPS to cover publicly owned utilities or … Continue Reading
By Joshua T. Bledsoe, Tim B. Henderson, and Jared W. Johnson Seeking to quell uncertainty surrounding the definition of resource shuffling ahead of the first cap-and-trade auction on November 14, 2012, the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) passed a Resolution on October 18, 2012, requiring the Executive Officer to redefine resource shuffling and provide concrete examples. … Continue Reading
By Marc T. Campopiano and Tim B. Henderson On August 9, 2012, the California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted a revised Sixth Edition of the Renewables Portfolio Standard Eligibility Guidebook (RPS Guidebook) to clarify changes to the RPS Guidebook Fifth Edition, which was recently adopted on May 9, 2012, as described in our prior blog discussion. … Continue Reading
By Marc Campopiano and Tim Henderson On May 9, 2012, the California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted a revised Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) Eligibility Guidebook. The update implements several key modifications to the RPS eligibility criteria, including but not limited to: Incorporating changes required by Senate Bill X1-2, which raised the RPS to 33 percent by … Continue Reading
By Michael Feeley and Aron Potash A lawsuit which delayed and once threatened to dismantle California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) cap and trade scheme was largely resolved last week, removing one roadblock to California’s plan to be the first state to impose an economy-wide GHG trading program. Under modified regulations adopted by the California Air Resources … Continue Reading
In a decision that could have widespread application to cases challenging agency action, the California Supreme Court in Voices of Wetlands v. State Water Resources Control Board recently upheld the use of a procedural mechanism that some earlier decisions had held impermissible—the interlocutory remand to an administrative agency. Use of this procedure can significantly expedite … Continue Reading
