2023 | Global Power Law & Policy

FERC APPROVES ENFORCEMENT’S SETTLEMENTS WITH TWO DEMAND RESPONSE PROVIDERS

May 31 2023

By: Kimberly B. Frank, Ruta K. Skucas, Maria C. Faconti, Theodore L. Kornobis

On 22 May 2023, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued two orders approving stipulation and consent agreements that resolve enforcement investigations by FERC’s Office of Enforcement (FERC Enforcement) of two demand response providers, Leapfrog Power, Inc. (Leapfrog) and OhmConnect, Inc. (OhmConnect), regarding their participation in the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) market.¹ FERC Enforcement’s focus in both cases concerned whether the companies violated a provision of the CAISO tariff requiring market participants to have a reasonable expectation that they could fulfill the bids they submitted.

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Financing the Renewable Hydrogen Revolution

Apr 28 2023

A supplement to The H₂ Handbook, United States

Risk in the hydrogen industry spans multiple areas, from feedstock and power supply to offtake and transportation. Understanding the regulatory, tax, and practical considerations of hydrogen projects, particularly green hydrogen, is essential for formulating an investment strategy for renewable hydrogen.

A supplement to the United States section of The H₂ Handbook, this new guide offers insights to mitigating risk for projects in the United States, including the new and updated US federal income tax credits provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act.

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From IP Law Watch: H2 PRODUCTION: A SHIFT TOWARDS ELECTROLYSIS

Mar 30 2023

Hydrogen production technology, according to the joint EPO-IEA report summarizing patent trends in the hydrogen economy (summarized here), accounts for the largest percentage of patenting activity since 2011 among the three primary stages of the hydrogen value chain (i.e., (i) production, (ii) storage, distribution, and transformation, and (iii) end-use industrial applications). Trends show a shift in hydrogen production from carbon-intensive methods to technologies that do not rely on fossil fuels. The bulk of recent increased patent activity is directed to electrolysis development, while patent activity related to production from biomass and waste has decreased.

Read the rest of this post on K&L Gates’ IP Law Watch blog.

From IP Law Watch: Global Trends in Hydrogen IP Protection

Feb 20 2023

By Jason Engel, Ben Fechner and Clare Frederick

The European Patent Office (EPO) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) recently published a joint report summarizing innovation and patent trends within the hydrogen economy.¹ The report is based on global patent activity since 2001² and is intended to help governments and businesses understand which parts of the hydrogen value chain appear to be making progress and which parts may be lagging behind.³ The report dives deep into specific technologies, lists the most active applicants in select technologies, and attempts to identify the impact of different governmental programs in specific sectors, with a goal of trying to help focus future innovation efforts.

Read the rest of this post on K&L Gates’ IP Law Watch Blog.

Join CleanCapital for a Webinar: How is the Inflation Reduction Act Affecting Clean Energy Developers?

Feb 02 2023

In August Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark climate and clean energy bill. Six months later, we’re asking: where are we now?

Join CleanCapital’s Jon Powers, K&L Gates’ Elizabeth Crouse, and Environmental Defense Fund’s Elizabeth Gore, for an informational webinar to understand how the rollout of IRA policies will impact clean energy developers. What are the steps to full implementation? What progress has been made on tax and other key policy levels within the administration?

Hosted by:
Jon Powers
President, CleanCapital

Panelists:

Elizabeth Crouse
Tax Partner & Co-Lead of Power, K&L Gates

Elizabeth Gore
Senior Vice President, Political Affairs at Environmental Defense Fund

To learn more and register, please click here.

Reactive Power Compensation for Renewable Energy Facilities: Opportunity Amidst Change

Jan 23 2023

By: Ruta Skučas, Maria Faconti, Kimberly Frank

Originally published in the Oil, Gas & Energy Resources Law Section Report – Volume 47, Number 1 / January 2023.

Reactive power provides synchronous and non-synchronous generators, as well as other forms of non-generation resources capable of providing reactive power, with a potential additional revenue stream. The provision of voltage support to the grid is an ancillary service, compensated in various ways in the various wholesale electricity markets. Renewable developers should familiarize themselves with the opportunities provided by reactive power compensation, even as some of the compensation models may be shifting.

In 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) began allowing wind and solar facilities to offer reactive power as an ancillary service into wholesale electricity markets. Over the past few years, FERC and the independent system operators (“ISOs”) and regional transmission organizations (“RTOs”) began to revisit reactive power compensation models and, as a result, there has been a greater focus on reactive power issues in 2022. This article reviews the current status of reactive power compensation in various U.S. regions, as well as possible future changes.

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Archive: 2023