By Michael J. Gergen, Benjamin M. Lawless, and Andrew H. Meyer On April 25, 2014, the New York Public Service Commission (“NYPSC”) instituted a proceeding it terms “Reforming the Energy Vision” (the “REV Proceeding”) to consider “fundamental changes in the manner in which [electric distribution] utilities provide service” along with related regulatory and ratemaking issues … Continue Reading
By Ann Claassen and Eli Hopson Last week EPA finalized the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) levels for 2013.[1] Although EPA missed the statutory deadline of November 30, 2012, for setting levels for the 2013 RFS, EPA notes that the statute does not provide any penalty for missing the deadline, nor does it remove the general … Continue Reading
By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Aron Potash California’s low carbon fuel standard (LCFS), a core component of the state’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction strategy, likely will survive a legal challenge and remain in effect despite an appellate court’s order indicating that the regulation was improperly adopted. The California Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate … Continue Reading
By Robert A. Wyman, Jr., Michael G. Romey, and Aron Potash Climate tort plaintiffs cannot catch a break in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. In a May 14, 2013, decision, the Fifth Circuit found—once again—that a group of Mississippi Gulf Coast property owners is barred from alleging that energy companies tortiously emitted greenhouse gases … 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 Michael Dreibelbis, Eli Hopson, and Aron Potash A California appellate court signaled on February 26, 2013, that it might find that California’s low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) was improperly adopted. The court sent a request for supplemental briefing in POET, LLC et al. v. Goldstene, et al. indicating that the California Air Resources Board … 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 Joshua T. Bledsoe, Tim B. Henderson, and Jared W. Johnson With the first auction in California’s cap and trade program fast-approaching on November 14, 2012, the California Air Resources Board (“ARB”) recently suspended a much-discussed aspect of the program that requires first deliverers of electricity to attest that they have not engaged in “resource … 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
By Linda Schilling, Charity Gilbreth, and Shirin Forootan On April 14, 2011, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) will hold a public meeting in Washington, DC to solicit comments on proposed changes to the new International Green Construction Code (IgCC). There are approximately 1400 proposed changes addressing a … Continue Reading
By Michael G. Romey, Ryan Waterman, and Aron Potash On March 18, 2011, a San Francisco Superior Court ruling (PDF) put the brakes on California’s implementation of its 2008 Scoping Plan, which established the State’s roadmap to achieve the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goal expressed in the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB … Continue Reading
The United States Environmental Protection Agency faces an obligation to propose, before June of this year, a rule under the Clean Water Act which will impose reporting requirements upon owners and operators of concentrated animal feeding operations (PDF), or CAFOs, which include certain dairy and poultry farms, horse racing tracks, rodeo facilities, and many other types … Continue Reading
Since the passage of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (otherwise known as AB 32), the California Air Resources Board (ARB) has met all of the Act’s deadlines for reaching the 2020 goal of reducing California’s greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels. This includes ARB’s December 2008 approval of the Scoping Plan (PDF), which established … Continue Reading
Fossil fuel power plants are critical to California achieving its ambitious goals for a high-renewable, lowcarbon energy future. Today’s Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal has an interesting thought piece (PDF) penned by Michael Carroll and Marc Campopiano that discusses this seeming paradox. … Continue Reading
