Catagory:Renewables

1
What to Know About ISO/RTO Annual Certification Requirements
2
Join CleanCapital for a Webinar: How is the Inflation Reduction Act Affecting Clean Energy Developers?
3
The Tax Credit Revolution: From Brownfields to Brightfields
4
Ensuring Energy Security Section in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022
5
2022 Offshore Wind Handbook Now Available
6
Sustainable Outlook: The Push to Modernize the Grid From Smart Buildings With Courtney Blodgett, Director of Strategy at Edo
7
BOEM Issues Final Sale Notice for Offshore Wind Lease Areas in Carolina Long Bay
8
Please Join Us: ESG Insights | SEC Proposed Climate-Related Disclosures
9
SUSTAINABLE OUTLOOK: DEVELOPING SOLAR AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES WITH HOLLY CHRISTIE OF HECATE ENERGY
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Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Propels the U.S. Offshore Wind Industry

What to Know About ISO/RTO Annual Certification Requirements

By: Ruta Skučas, Stephanie Staska (Director of Trade and Risk Products at Yes Energy), and Chimera Thompson

Explore an overview of the annual certification requirements in each of the organized wholesale electricity markets operated by the independent system operators and regional transmission organizations (ISO/RTOs) in the United States. Each year, market participants must certify ongoing compliance through an officer’s certification stating that they meet requirements to participate in the market.

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

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?

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The Tax Credit Revolution: From Brownfields to Brightfields

Please Join us as The Tax Credit Revolution Webinar series continues on Thursday, November 3 at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Join us for a discussion on how the Inflation Reduction Act provides developers with new opportunities to redevelop brownfield sites as brightfields, by incorporating solar energy and energy storage technology.

Speakers:

Moderator:

  • Chad Farrell, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Encore Renewables

To register, please click the button below to RSVP.

Subscribe here to stay informed and receive our latest content.

Ensuring Energy Security Section in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

By Laurie B. Purpuro

On 27 July, Senators Manchin and Schumer announced a deal on the successor to the Build Back Better Act, which is expected to pass in the Senate on Saturday (6 August 2022) and the House the following Friday. This new legislation, called the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, includes US$370 billion in programs and tax credits to boost renewable energy production in the United States. 

That said, page 644 of the draft includes language that ties federal solar, wind and offshore wind development to federal lease sales for oil and gas. 

The Details

The section of the bill titled “Ensuring Energy Security” prohibits the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from issuing rights-of-way (ROW) for wind or solar development on federal land unless an onshore oil and gas lease sale has occurred within 120 days before the wind or solar lease issuance. In addition, these wind and solar ROWs would not be allowed unless, in the previous year, BLM completed onshore oil and gas lease sales covering 2,000,000 acres or 50% of the acreage in which interested parties have expressed interest, whichever is lower. (Note: Wind and solar projects that impact federal land are authorized by ROWs.)

Offshore wind (OSW) is similarly impacted by this provision, as it prohibits the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) from issuing an OSW lease unless an oil and gas offshore lease sale of at least 60 million acres is held during the year before the OSW lease issuance.

The Impact

This section of the agreement is intended to force the Biden Administration to restart the regularly scheduled oil and gas lease sales that it has been cancelling since 2021, while at the same time allowing the Biden Administration to conduct fewer annual oil and gas lease sales than currently required.   

The Mineral Leasing Act requires four onshore oil and gas leases per year; the language in this bill requires three onshore oil and gas leases per year, as a prerequisite to solar and wind development on federal land. BOEM offshore oil and gas five-year leasing programs require two offshore oil and gas lease sales in most years; this bill requires one sale per year, in order to allow solar and wind development on federal land. 

Furthermore, the acreage requirements for oil and gas sales outlined in the bill are in line with previous sales. And for the onshore oil and gas lease sales, just in case BLM falls shore of the 2,000,000 acre requirement, they can sell leases for 50% of the acreage that parties are interested in.

The Compromise

This Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 is a compromise forged by Senate Democrats with the slimmest of majorities. The Ensuring Energy Security section is Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin’s way of requiring an all of the above energy policy for the country.

2022 Offshore Wind Handbook Now Available

U.S. Offshore Wind Handbook Helps Navigate Technical and Regulatory Issues

We are pleased to announce the release of the 2022 edition of the Offshore Wind Handbook, a collaboration between K&L Gates, Mainstream Renewable Power, and Kent plc., written to help guide investors and new market entrants through technical and regulatory issues in a fast-paced developing U.S. offshore wind market.

To view the 2022 Offshore Wind Handbook, click here.

Sustainable Outlook: The Push to Modernize the Grid From Smart Buildings With Courtney Blodgett, Director of Strategy at Edo

By: Molly K. Barker

On this week’s episode of Sustainable Outlook, Molly Barker of K&L Gates interviews Courtney Blodgett of Edo, which is a startup energy venture that works to enable building-to-grid integration and reduce building costs for clients by utilizing clean energy and innovative design solutions. At the intersection of environmental, social, and economic sustainability, Edo’s mission is to transform grid operations and optimize energy consumption for its clients while also addressing climate, affordability, and equity challenges.

Learn more about our participation in the sustainable economy.

BOEM Issues Final Sale Notice for Offshore Wind Lease Areas in Carolina Long Bay

U.S. Energy, Infrastructure, and Resources Alert

By: Stanford D. BairdKenneth J. Gish, JrNathan C. HoweDavid L. WochnerKimberly B. FrankAnkur K. Tohan

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will hold its next offshore wind lease auction on 11 May 2022, for two lease areas in the Carolina Long Bay. The lease areas comprise 110,091 acres off the coast of North and South Carolina. The auction date will occur weeks ahead of a 10-year moratorium on offshore energy leases imposed in 2020 by the Trump administration prohibiting auctions of leases for wind, in addition to oil and gas, off the coasts of North and South Carolina beginning on 1 July 2022.

For more information, please contact our Energy, Infrastructure, and Resources lawyers or visit our practice page.

Please Join Us: ESG Insights | SEC Proposed Climate-Related Disclosures

28 March 2022
2:00 – 3:00pm ET
via Webex

ESG perspectives are constantly evolving, and the SEC is releasing several significant ESG-related rules this year.  Companies will have questions about the implications of these rules and what will happen next.  K&L Gates wants to be a resource to its clients and contacts as these rules are released, and public companies consider how to prepare.

On March 21, 2022, the SEC released its proposed rules on climate-related disclosures. We will be hosting a webinar to address initial questions on the rule proposal.  Some of the topics that we will address include: 

  • What disclosures are required by the proposed rules, including board and management oversight and governance of climate-related risks?
  • Is an attestation report required for climate-related disclosures, including Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions information?  If so, for what information and who can provide an attestation report?
  • Is there a phase-in period in the proposed rules?  If so, when would companies be required to begin providing these climate-related disclosures?
  • What will happen next and what can companies do to prepare?

Panelists:

Please RSVP by March 27. 

SUSTAINABLE OUTLOOK: DEVELOPING SOLAR AND STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES WITH HOLLY CHRISTIE OF HECATE ENERGY

By: Elizabeth C. Crouse

On this episode of Sustainable Outlook, host Elizabeth Crouse speaks with Holly Christie, the General Counsel of Hecate Energy. Hecate Energy is a leading renewable energy power plant developer, and Holly oversees the legal aspects of all projects. She speaks on creative partnerships in developing communities, emerging trends in solar technology, and human rights and environmental justice issues within the renewable energy industry. 

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Propels the U.S. Offshore Wind Industry

U.S. Energy, Infrastructure, and Resources and Environment, Land, and Natural Resources Alert

By: Gail H. ConenelloNathan C. HoweAnkur K. TohanDavid L. Wochner

The flurry of offshore wind activity off the U.S. Eastern Seaboard continues, as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced recently it will hold an auction on 23 February 2022, to lease six new areas for offshore wind development in the New York Bight. The six lease areas will be located off the coasts of New York and New Jersey and will comprise 488,201 total acres. Such acreage should be sufficient to develop an estimated 5.6 gigawatts (GWs) of new offshore wind capacity, enough to power nearly two million homes. The six new lease areas will add to the 18 existing lease areas for offshore wind development that currently exist off the U.S. East Coast. This new lease sale combined with other recent BOEM developments exemplifies the Biden Administration’s commitment to the development of offshore wind resources in the United States.

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