Archive:2018

1
ESA News Desk with K&L Gates
2
K&L Gates Blockchain Energizer – Volume 28
3
Congressional Committee Charges Up for EV Hearing
4
K&L Gates Blockchain Energizer – Volume 27
5
California Energy Storage Update – What’s In the Latest Procurement Plans?
6
K&L Gates Energy Storage Handbook Volume 2 is Now Available!
7
K&L Gates Blockchain Energizer – Volume 26
8
Join K&L Gates at #ESACon18
9
K&L Gates Blockchain Energizer – Volume 25
10
Women in Power event: Indentifying and Innovating through Points of Resistance in Renewables

ESA News Desk with K&L Gates

K&L Gates was recently the News Desk Host #ESACon18. The Energy Storage Association’s Annual Convention was held April 18-20 in Boston, MA.  As News Desk Host, we had the opportunity to interview representatives from the organizations that are making an impact on the energy storage industry.

K&L Gates interviewers included Portland partner Bill Holmes, Boston associate Mike O’Neill, Washington D.C. partner Will Keyser and counsel Jim Wrathall. Organizations represented included Sungrow Samsung SDI, Dynapower Company, Ingersoll Rand, WRISE, ESA, Fluence, GE Power, National Grid, NEC Energy Solutions, NEXTracker, and Powin Energy.

To view the interviews, click here.

 

 

 

K&L Gates Blockchain Energizer – Volume 28

By Buck Endemann, Ben Tejblum, and Daniel Cohen

Your Blockchain Energizer authors Buck Endemann and Ben Tejblum presented at EUCI’s “Blockchain Technology for the Energy Sector” conference on May 8-9 in Houston, Texas. The crowd included existing market participants (utilities, retail suppliers, and regulators) along with new participants looking to leverage blockchain technology to facilitate energy transactions and improve utility operations. During our time in Houston, we found that blockchain discussions are a great way to spur broader conversation on innovation and industry sector change. Recurring themes included how utilities could be incentivized to adopt new technologies (through performance-based regulation or other constructs) while ensuring that they continue to meet their obligation to provide reliable service to all customers. The impact of new and innovative business models on low-income households, under-represented communities, and the unknown impacts on data privacy were important topics, as well.

Looking ahead, several panelists proposed that Europe is the “canary in the coal mine” due to the proliferation of distributed energy technologies and strong commitments to renewable energy. Perhaps not coincidentally, that is where the most energy-related blockchain use cases have taken root, usually with the support of business, regulators, and other state actors. K&L Gates attorneys will continue to monitor these developments and keep you abreast, right here in the Blockchain Energizer.

Finally, we are pleased to partner again with EUCI on our “Blockchain Technology Fundamentals: Energy Industry Applications” webinar, to take place on June 5, 2018. Click the link to register!

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Centrica and LO3 Partner to Minimize Renewable Energy Curtailment.
  • PG&E has proposed a Demonstration Project Using Smart Contracts to Generate Low Carbon Fuel Standard Credits.
  • The United Nations and Sun Exchange Team up with ElectriCChain to Use Blockchain and Cryptocurrency to Provide Solar Power in Moldova.

To view more information on theses topics in Volume 28 of the Blockchain Energizer, click here.

Congressional Committee Charges Up for EV Hearing

By Scott Aliferis

Congress will continue its review and oversight of automotive and energy issues this week. On Tuesday, May 8, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Environment will hold a hearing entitled “Sharing the Road: Policy Implications of Electric and Conventional Vehicles in the Years Ahead”.

The Subcommittee, chaired by Congressman John Shimkus (R-Illinois), has invited a diverse set of witnesses to provide testimony on the wide range of issues, opportunities and challenges facing consumers, automakers, utilities and other stakeholders.

According to a subcommittee memo, the following issues may be examined at the hearing:

  • The reasons for the current growth in EVs and expected future trends in electrification.
  • The policy implications of increasing EV market penetration.
  • The impact of EVs on fueling infrastructure and on the nation’s electrical grid.
  • The response of liquid fuel providers and automakers to changing market trends.
  • The consumer impacts of changing trends in transportation fuels and vehicles.

Another likely topic is the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 on the purchase of a plug-in electric vehicle, depending upon the size of the vehicle and its battery capacity. During last year’s Congressional debate on tax reform, the credit was preserved despite opposition from some House Republicans. However, the incentive begins to phase out after each manufacturer sells 200,000 electric vehicles. Many automakers may hit the limit this year. A group of 36 utilities cosigned a letter in March urging Congress to modify the credit and eliminate the cap. Pacific Gas & Electric was a signatory and its CEO is one of the witnesses for tomorrow’s hearing.

Other witnesses will offer important perspectives and data on the current marketplace and outlook for EV adoption. Additionally, there will be debate surrounding the existing policy and regulatory structures at the state and federal levels and what changes or modifications should be considered.

K&L Gates Blockchain Energizer – Volume 27

By Buck Endemann, Ben Tejblum, and Daniel Cohen

There is a lot of buzz around blockchain technology and its potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries from finance and health care to real estate and supply chain management. Reports estimate that over $4.5 billion was invested in blockchain startups in 2017 alone, and many institutions and companies are forming partnerships to explore how blockchain ledgers and smart contracts can be deployed to manage and share data, create transactional efficiencies, and reduce costs.

While virtual currencies and blockchain technology in the financial services industry have been the subject of significant debate and discussion, blockchain applications that could transform the energy industry have received comparatively less attention. Every other week, the K&L Gates’ Blockchain Energizer will highlight emerging issues or stories relating to the use of blockchain technology in the energy space. To subscribe to the Blockchain Energizer newsletter, please click here.

Authors Buck Endemann and Ben Tejblum will be in attendance at EUCI’s, “Blockchain Technology for the Energy Sector” Conference in Houston, Texas, from May 8–9, 2018. They will be available to discuss the latest in blockchain.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Energy Web Foundation Is Implementing a Different Consensus Protocol to Reduce Blockchain Electricity Demand.
  • Energy Storage Meets Blockchain: Sonnen Joins the NEMoGrid Project.
  • Softbank and TEPCO Announce a Blockchain Pilot Program to Reduce Carbon Emissions.
  • IOT Group to Re-open an Australian Power Plant to Provide Electricity for Blockchain Companies; Washington Counties Take Divergent Approaches to Cryptocurrency Mining.

To view more information on theses topics in Volume 27 of the Blockchain Energizer, click here.

California Energy Storage Update – What’s In the Latest Procurement Plans?

By Buck B. Endemann and  Kristen A. Berry

Just as Prometheus hid fire in a fennel stalk to gift it to the unaware ancients, the pioneers of energy storage technology seek to harness and store energy in increasingly novel ways. Transforming captured energy into storable and consumable power stands at the forefront of this century’s revolution in green energy technology. In 2017, the United States deployed 431 MWh of energy storage capability, largely spurred by state-specific energy storage mandates.[1] California’s state legislature has continued to lead the nation and spread Prometheus’s “secret spring of fire.”

While the concept of storing energy is centuries-old, new battery technologies promise to mitigate California’s infamous duck curve and provide the low carbon, flexible ramping resources necessary to accommodate the state’s increasing penetration of solar power. The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates the United States’ total current storage capacity at 23 gigawatts (GW), which approximates the capacity of 28 coal plants.[2] Ninety-six percent of this capacity, however, derives from pumped hydroelectric storage, most of which was built in the 1960s and 1970s and is increasingly vulnerable to drought and other environmental risks. More recently, energy storage developers have focused their efforts on battery technologies, with lithium-ion batteries in particular making great strides in terms of duration and cost-effectiveness. Market watchers have projected that by 2020 the price of battery storage could decline to $200 kWh, compared to today’s market price of approximately $340/kWh.[3]

As detailed in the K&L Gates Energy Storage Handbook (Version 2.0), California’s two landmark energy storage bills require California’s Investor-Owned Utilities (IOUs) to procure and install nearly 2 GW of storage by 2024.[4]  Under AB 2514, the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) required California’s IOUs to procure by 2020 1,325 MW of storage capacity split among the transmission, distribution, and customer domains.  In AB 2868, the legislature set an additional procurement target of 500 MW for distributed-connected energy storage systems, with individual 166 MW goals established for Southern California Edison (SCE), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), and San Diego Gas & Electric (SD&E). Under both laws, California’s IOUs must submit periodic procurement plans to show progress toward each law’s targets.  In February and March 2018, SCE, PG&E, and SDG&E submitted their 2018 energy storage procurement plans, which lay out each IOU’s strategy to meet its energy storage goals in its respective service territory.

SCE proposes to procure a total of 60 MW of energy storage by 2018 in two separate procurements of 20 MW and 40 MW.  The 20 MW of procurement would respond to an additional legislative directive, SB 801, under which SCE is required to deploy energy storage in response to the natural gas shortages caused by the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility’s well failure.  For the remaining 40 MW, SCE plans to launch programs and investments to solicit utility-owned storage, as mandated under AB 2868. SCE’s procurement plan also seeks CPUC approval to allocate $9.8 million to install energy storage at low-income, multi-family dwellings.

PG&E’s procurement plan focuses on the 166 MW of energy storage under AB 2514 that it is required to procure in the 2018-2019 procurement period.  To meet that target, PG&E proposes an energy storage request-for-offers framework. To achieve its AB 2868 target, PG&E outlined its four categories of distribution-connected storage investments: (1) researching the role of distributed energy storage in wildfire safety, particularly within the context of the North Bay Wildfire rebuilding efforts, (2) launching a behind-the-meter storage program for up to 5 MW of thermal storage, (3) identifying and seeking immediate CPUC approval (via a Tier 3 advice letter) for storage investments up to 166 MW, and (4) requesting authorization for additional investments beyond the categories identified in the 2018 application.

SDG&E’s filing proposes seven utility-owned micro-grid projects, all of which would exist at the distribution circuit level. These projects would provide services to entities that contribute to public safety, like police stations and firehouses, by providing storage capabilities separate from the main grid.  SDG&E argues that these distributed storage systems will provide a wide-range of benefits, including grid resiliency, wholesale market revenues, and reduced dependency on non-renewable energy sources by minimizing the need for back-up generators.  SDG&E also plans to contribute $2 million toward a pilot energy storage incentive program for non-profit facilities, such as nursing homes.

Each of these utilities will roll out its initiatives over the remainder of 2018 and beyond.  K&L Gates will continue to monitor energy storage developments and provide updates.

[1] GTM Research / ESA, U.S. Energy Storage Monitor, https://www.greentechmedia.com/research/subscription/u-s-energy-storage-monitor#gs.KZIlnzQ (2017).

[2] Union of Concerned Scientists, How Energy Storage Works, https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/how-energy-storage-works#.WtAsTq2otD8 (2013).

[3] McKinsey & Company, The New Economics of Energy Storage, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability-and-resource-productivity/our-insights/the-new-economics-of-energy-storage (August 2016). Energy Storage Report, Study: Flow Batteries Beat Lithium Ion, http://energystoragereport.info/study-flow-batteries-beat-lithium-ion/#sthash.c07jCAVv.gXdjY17t.dpbs (July 2017).

[4] K&L Gates, Energy Storage Handbook, http://www.klgates.com/epubs/Energy-Storage-Handbook-Vol2/ (April 2018).

K&L Gates Energy Storage Handbook Volume 2 is Now Available!

 

 

As a courtesy to our clients and friends, the K&L Gates Power practice has updated the popular resource for you – the Energy Storage Handbook.

Designed as a basic primer on what energy storage is, how it is regulated and what sorts of issues are encountered when such projects are financed and developed, the Handbook is intended to highlight the most common regulatory and developmental issues faced by our clients and the industries we serve.

New In Version 2

To view Version 2 of the Energy Storage Handbook, please click here.

K&L Gates Blockchain Energizer – Volume 26

By Buck Endemann, Ben Tejblum, and Daniel Cohen

There is a lot of buzz around blockchain technology and its potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries from finance and health care to real estate and supply chain management. Reports estimate that over $4.5 billion was invested in blockchain startups in 2017 alone, and many institutions and companies are forming partnerships to explore how blockchain ledgers and smart contracts can be deployed to manage and share data, create transactional efficiencies, and reduce costs.

While virtual currencies and blockchain technology in the financial services industry have been the subject of significant debate and discussion, blockchain applications that could transform the energy industry have received comparatively less attention. Every other week, the K&L Gates’ Blockchain Energizer will highlight emerging issues or stories relating to the use of blockchain technology in the energy space. To subscribe to the Blockchain Energizer newsletter, please click here.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • LO3 Energy and Direct Energy Business Are Launching “Exergy,” a B2B Transactive Energy Network.
  • Green Power Exchange Releases Updated White Paper for Blockchain-based P2P Energy Platform.
  • Arizona Governor Signs Legislation Allowing Corporations to Store and Transmit Data via Blockchain.
  • Chinese Petrochemical Company Utilizes Blockchain for Trial Gasoline Shipment.
  • Chile’s National Energy Commission Launches Trial Blockchain Data Initiative.
  • Chelan County Public Utility District Cuts Power to Three Unauthorized Cryptocurrency Miners.

To view more information on theses topics in Volume 26 of the Blockchain Energizer, click here.

Join K&L Gates at #ESACon18

K&L Gates is proud to sponsor the Energy Storage Association’s 28th Annual Conference and Expo

K&L Gates welcomes you to join us at #ESACon18.  As the ESA News Desk Host, we are excited to have the opportunity to meet with you at this renowned conference and expo.  The conference will be held on April 18-20 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA.

K&L GATES HIGHLIGHTS

DISCOUNT CODE
As a member of the ESA Board of Directors, Portland Partner Bill Holmes is pleased to offer a 10% discount on registration.  Enter code BILLAC18 to receive the discount.

K&L Gates Blockchain Energizer – Volume 25

By Buck Endemann, Ben Tejblum, and Daniel Cohen

There is a lot of buzz around blockchain technology and its potential to revolutionize a wide range of industries from finance and health care to real estate and supply chain management. Reports estimate that over $4.5 billion was invested in blockchain startups in 2017 alone, and many institutions and companies are forming partnerships to explore how blockchain ledgers and smart contracts can be deployed to manage and share data, create transactional efficiencies, and reduce costs.

While virtual currencies and blockchain technology in the financial services industry have been the subject of significant debate and discussion, blockchain applications that could transform the energy industry have received comparatively less attention. Every other week, the K&L Gates’ Blockchain Energizer will highlight emerging issues or stories relating to the use of blockchain technology in the energy space. To subscribe to the Blockchain Energizer newsletter, please click here.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Cryptocurrency miners face mounting resistance to energy demands in the United States and Canada
  • LO3 Energy will launch a blockchain-based renewable energy trading platform in Southern Australia
  • International Energy Research Centre plans to develop a peer-to-peer energy trading platform
  • Elia, Belgium’s transmission system operator, to explore blockchain

To view more information on theses topics in Volume 25 of the Blockchain Energizer, click here.

Women in Power event: Indentifying and Innovating through Points of Resistance in Renewables

3 April 2018
8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

K&L Gates
925 Fourth Avenue
Floor 29
Seattle, WA 98104

Presenters: Elizabeth ThomasJessica C. TsaoElizabeth C. Crouse, Elisabeth Yandell McNeil

The Seattle office is hosting a series of exciting discussions about the innovations driving the renewables industry into the future. A diverse range of women panelists from across the industry will discuss methods that industry participants are currently developing to move through known constraints and collaboratively identify additional points of resistance and possibilities for pushing through them.

8:30 a.m. Registration & Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Morning Updates
12:15 p.m. Keynote Panel & Lunch
1:30 p.m. Conclusion

Morning Updates
Regulatory Considerations
Moderator: Liz Thomas, K&L Gates LLP, Seattle
Mariah Kennedy, Puget Sound Energy
Rachel Brombaugh, King County

Technological Advances
Moderator: Jessica Tsao, K&L Gates LLP, Seattle
Jennifer Worrall, Iteros
Kristine Parra, Washington Clean Energy Testbeds
Laura McCarty, Local-E and Energy Trading Technology, Inc.

Finance and Strategy of Expansion
Moderator: Elizabeth Crouse, K&L Gates LLP, Seattle
Corey Camacho, Vestas
Karin Berardo, SIRES Advisors
Kate McGinnis, Fluence

Keynote Panel Discussion and Lunch
Moderator: Elisabeth Yandell McNeil, K&L Gates LLP, Seattle
Vanessa Miler Fels, Microsoft
Tess Williams, Doosan GridTech
Christina Page, Page Sustainability Consulting

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