On June 17, 2021, the United States Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order establishing a new Joint Federal-State Task Force on Electric Transmission, calling for nominations for state commission representation on it, setting forth preliminary details of it and identifying topics for it to consider. The Legal Update at the link below provides
On June 9, 2021, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order 218, which targets 2.8 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 8 GW by 2040 and anticipates the creation of 600,000 related jobs and an annual contribution to North Carolina’s economy of $70 billion. The Legal Update at the link below provides details
In the wake of the May 2021 ransomware attack on a major US oil pipeline, the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has released a security directive (the “TSA Directive”) to better “identify, protect against, and respond to threats to critical companies in the pipeline sector.” The TSA Directive was released on May
Over the past number of weeks, a variety of legislative proposals, from both sides of the aisle, have been released that, if enacted, could drastically impact the US energy industry and, in many cases, the taxation of energy in the United States. These proposals come on the heels of the Biden administration’s American Jobs Plan
In the aftermath of Winter Storm Uri and the market turmoil that ensued, legislation that contemplates using securitization to potentially fund related economic damages and other dislocation has been proposed in both Texas and Oklahoma; however, in many cases, the proposed legislation does not contemplate critical requirements under the applicable rating agency methodologies. The Legal
On March 17, 2021, U.S. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-La.) and U.S. Representatives Marc Veasey (D-Texas) and David McKinley (R-W.Va.) introduced the Storing CO2 And Lowering Emissions (SCALE) Act. The bill is intended to help develop infrastructure buildout to transport CO2 from the capture site to be used as feedstock for the manufacture of other products, to oilfields where it is injected to enhance oil recovery, or to underground storage locations. CO2 capture projects are expensive and the EPA permitting process for storage facilities is lengthy. Thus, project financing and permitting are key drivers to determine the speed and scope at which global climate goals with respect to greenhouse gas reduction are achieved. The 45Q tax credit for carbon capture and sequestration incentivizes carbon capture but is not by itself economically sufficient to provide the necessary equipment and transportation infrastructure.
Continue Reading US – Storing CO2 And Lowering Emissions (SCALE) Act
In the now obviously challenged Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power market, a strange dance recently occurred. On February 21, 2021, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), which oversees ERCOT, issued an order authorizing ERCOT to use its sole discretion in taking actions under the ERCOT Nodal Protocols to resolve financial obligations between
On January 27, 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14008, Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad (the “Order”). The Order sets forth the Biden administration’s policies to address climate change through both foreign and domestic policies and demonstrates the administration’s intent to make addressing climate change a top priority for nearly every department
Since US President Biden’s inauguration, the Biden administration has taken several actions to restrict the issuance of oil and gas permits for production on federal public lands and federal offshore waters, but the extent of the shift in policy undertaken remains uncertain as the US Department of Interior has continued to issue permits for drilling
The inauguration of the Biden administration will bring a plethora of policy changes focused on US electric power production, fuel, and climate change mitigation and remediation. The Biden administration’s Climate Executive Order, discussed further in this Legal Update, declares the intention to “reduce greenhouse gas emissions” and “bolster resilience to the impacts of climate change.”