Pipeline Companies Look to Take Advantage of Natural Gas Produced from Shale
From Washington D.C. energy partner Barbara Jost: The Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. made a filing with the FERC proposing to transform one of its existing lean gas lines into effectively a gathering line to move wet gas from gas fields within the Utica Shale play to to-be-constructed processing facilities and then to market. As Tennessee … Continue reading
Rep. Waxman, Sen. Whitehouse & Rep. Markey Form Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change
From Craig Gannett of DWT’s Seattle office: Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), today announced the formation of a bicameral task force on climate change. Their letter essentially urges the President to aggressively pursue GHG emission reductions under existing law, implicitly recognizing that no new legislation is possible … Continue reading
Montana Bankruptcy Court Confirms Electricity Is a “Good” Under the Bankruptcy Code
From DWT bankruptcy partner Hugh McCullough: The United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Montana in connection with In re Southern Montana Electric Generation and Transmission Cooperative, Inc. held that electricity was a “good” for purposes of section 503(b)(9) of the Bankruptcy Code. That means that anyone sells electricity to a person who later … Continue reading
CleanPowerSF: Political Correctness Trumps Energy Policy
Read what my colleagues Steve Greenwald and Jeff Gray have to say about why CleanPowerSF is an exercise in political correctness in the latest edition of Power Magazine. http://www.powermag.com/issues/departments/legal_and_regulatory/CleanPowerSF-Political-Correctness-Trumps-Energy-Policy_5179.html My favorite quote and teaser: ”CleanPowerSF represents yet another Balkanizing, politically motivated misadventure in energy policy.”
FERC to Revise Rules for Allocation of New Transmission Capacity By Non-Incumbent Developers
From our colleague Jim Mitchell in our DC Office. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has proposed to provide developers of new merchant transmission projects and new cost-based, participant-funded transmission projects with increased flexibility to offer terms and conditions of service that may be desired by potential transmission service customers. Under this proposal, transmission developers would … Continue reading
Prop 65 List Continues to Grow
From our colleague Tim Cunningham: Prop 65 continues to grow with the addition of a natural and commonly manufactured chemical used in many products including model airplane glue. California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has added methylisopropyl ketone to the Proposition 65 list. Proposition 65, also known as the Safe Water and Toxic … Continue reading
FERC Reaffirms Controversial Regional Transmission Planning Requirement for Transmission Providers
From Brian Gish of our DC Office: On May 17, 2012, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued Order No. 1000-A that denies rehearing of its Order No. 1000, thus leaving in place the requirement that all FERC-jurisdictional electric transmission providers must participate in regional and inter-regional processes to plan for new transmission facilities. Such transmission … Continue reading
Direct Access Cap for 2013 in California filled in less than 45 Seconds
In an initial report requested by industry groups, the Energy Division of the California Public Utilities Commission released the results of the January 13, 2012 Direct Access enrollment. This enrollment represents the limited phase-in of direct access stemming from Senate Bill 695. The results are eyepopping. A lucky 141 customers jumped from utility service … Continue reading
FERC Asks: When Does a Generation Developer Become a Transmission Provider?
This blog post comes from my DC colleague Margaret Claybour. Generation developers on the West Coast should take special note as the FERC orders described in this blog all involve facilities out West. —————————— When an unwary generation developer builds a tie-line to the nearest transmission line, it might assume that the use of that … Continue reading
New Director of the Consumer Protection and Safety Division of the California Public Utilities Commission
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) announced a new director of the Consumer Protection and Safety Division (CPSD). The former director was reassigned after the San Bruno tragedy and CPSD has been without a director for a number of months now. The search for a director was difficult as it was generally limited to others … Continue reading
