Category — Regulation

Beginning in July of this year, PJM noticed that some of its market participants appeared to be taking unfair advantage of certain of its power market settlement rules.  These rules permit non-firm transmission customers to receive an allocation of the PJM marginal losses surplus which exceeds such participants’ cost of transmission service.  FERC has announced that it will conduct a non-public, formal investigation – with subpoena power – to determine whether this behavior constitutes unlawful market manipulation.  This investigation will have an obvious and direct impact on PJM market participants because FERC’s Office of Enforcement will move swiftly to collect information and undertake its investigation in earnest.  [Read more →]

On August 10, 2010, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a new loan guarantee solicitation for “Projects that Manufacture Commercial Technology Renewable Energy Systems and Components” (the “Solicitation”).  The Solicitation is issued in support of Section 1705 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005.  DOE will make available up to $750,000,000 to pay credit subsidy costs of loan guarantees issued under the Solicitation.  The Solicitation has a First Part I Submission due date of September 30, 2010 and a Last Part I Submission due date of November 30, 2010.  Part II Applications are due first on November 30, 2010 and last on January 31, 2011. [Read more →]

EPA last Thursday proposed two additional sets of regulations as part of the Agency’s effort to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) beginning on January 2, 2011.  [Read more →]

EPA last Thursday proposed two additional sets of regulations as part of the Agency’s effort to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) beginning on January 2, 2011.  Under four EPA regulations issued in the last year—the Endangerment Finding, regulations addressing GHG emissions from new light-duty vehicles beginning in vehicle model year 2012, the so-called “Johnson Memorandum Reconsideration,” and the Tailoring Rule—new and modified stationary sources of GHG emissions will be required to obtain air permits including Best Available Control Technology (“BACT”) conditions to control those emissions.  Further background on these regulations is found in the article Waste-Deep in the Big Muddy, by Troutman Sanders Climate Change Team Chair Peter Glaser.  [Read more →]

On July 22, 2010, Senate Democrats held a caucus meeting  to discuss strategies for passing energy legislation in the Senate, after which they announced that they have temporarily abandoned plans to introduce a comprehensive bill before the August recess including either cap-and-trade of carbon emissions or a renewable electricity standard.  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) spoke to the media after the caucus, announcing that Democrats will instead introduce a smaller energy bill headlined by BP oil-spill response legislation. [Read more →]