Global Power Law & Policy

Legal and Policy Developments Affecting the Global Power Industry.

 

1
K&L Gates’ Quick Guide to the Polish Auction System for Renewables
2
The Blockchain Energizer – Volume 35
3
Energizing the Future With Blockchain: How the Environment and Energy Sectors Can Benefit From the Technology Behind Bitcoin
4
FirstEnergy: Bankruptcy Court Asserts Primacy Over FERC; Approves Rejection of Power Purchase Agreements
5
Trump Administration Releases Clean Power Plan Replacement Proposal
6
The Blockchain Energizer – Volume 34
7
The Blockchain Energizer – Volume 33
8
K&L Gates Advises innogy on Acquisition of More Than 2,000 MW Onshore Wind Projects
9
The Blockchain Energizer – Volume 32
10
Powering America: The Role of Energy Storage in the Nation’s Electricity System

K&L Gates’ Quick Guide to the Polish Auction System for Renewables

K&L Gates is pleased to introduce our Quick Guide to the Polish Auction System for Renewables. Find the full version of the guide here.

Wind energy is breaking new ground in Poland. After a few years of stagnation, there is well-grounded optimism for the dynamic development of onshore and offshore RES.

A 1000 MW wind auction is expected in November 2018, with more to come in 2019. Bidders will compete in offering the lowest price over a 15-year period, plus indexation, and the auction winners will receive an estimated 12–15 billion PLN, i.e., ca. 4 billion EUR over this period.

The government is working on a separate piece of legislation concerning public support for the first offshore wind farms on the Polish Baltic Sea. However, concessions for offshore wind are already awarded and the industry is gearing up for the construction phrase. Offshore wind will likely feature here sooner rather than later.

Never before experienced growth is also anticipated in the solar market, with an auction for around 750 MW of new capacity in 2018. This exceeds by a few times the capacity of all solar installations existing so far in Poland.

The auctions are bound to bring the country closer to meeting the 15% target of renewables’ share in electricity generation. The Polish renewable generation will finally get a much needed boost after the delays experienced on the EU 2020 path.

It is therefore our pleasure to present this quick guide on the auction system for renewables – a compendium of knowledge prepared by the Polish Wind Energy Association and one of the association’s members

– K&L Gates law firm.

We hope that you will find the guide interesting.

The Blockchain Energizer – Volume 35

By Buck B. Endemann, Benjamin L. Tejblum, Daniel S. 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. 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, please click here.

Come out and say hello to Blockchain Energizer co-author Buck Endemann as he presents on blockchain and renewable fuel standard, RINs, and biodiesel issues at the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) conference in Chicago on October 1–3, 2018!

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Clean Energy Blockchain Network to Provide an Automated Clean Energy Certification Service and EV Charging Station that Powers Low-Income Households.
  • Share&Charge Foundation Plans to Create an EV Charging Stations Network Using the Energy Web Foundation’s Blockchain Platform.
  • ENGIE and Maltem Establish “Blockchain Studio” to Provide Software to Facilitate Commercial Adoption of Blockchain-based Applications.

To view more information on theses topics in Volume 35 of the Blockchain Energizer, click here.

Energizing the Future With Blockchain: How the Environment and Energy Sectors Can Benefit From the Technology Behind Bitcoin

Please Join K&L Gates and ELI and use our Sponsor Discount Code!

Join K&L Gates’ Buck B. Endemann and Ben L. Tejblum, along with an expert panel in San Francisco, CA for a detailed seminar on how blockchain operates as well as how it can be applied in the environmental and energy sectors.

Panelists:

Click here to learn more about the event and to register.

K&L Gates is pleased to offer a registration discount to colleagues and friends of the firm. To receive the discount code, please email janina.quilacio@klgates.com.

FirstEnergy: Bankruptcy Court Asserts Primacy Over FERC; Approves Rejection of Power Purchase Agreements

By Charles A. Dale III, William M. Keyser, David A. Mawhinney, and Michael L. O’Neill                      

In a closely watched battle between FirstEnergy Solutions (“FirstEnergy”) and the Ohio Valley Energy Corporation (“OVEC”) that could have significant implications for the U.S. power sector, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Ohio asserted its primacy over the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) in deciding whether to allow FirstEnergy to repudiate certain FERC-regulated power purchase agreements (“PPAs”). In a decision with significant implications for all participants in rapidly evolving wholesale power markets, the bankruptcy court applied the highly deferential business judgment standard instead of the more stringent standard applied by FERC when evaluating proposed changes to PPAs featuring mutually agreed-upon filed rates. The court’s decision is now the subject of a direct appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and the outcome may inspire additional action by Congress and the president.

To read the full alert, click here.

 

Trump Administration Releases Clean Power Plan Replacement Proposal

Advancing President Trump’s campaign promise to end the “war on coal,” on August 21, 2018, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) proposed a new rule to replace the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan (“CPP”). Unlike the CPP, the proposed Affordable Clean Energy Rule (the “ACE Rule”) does not set numerical standards or targets for greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. Instead, the ACE Rule would give states flexibility to set their own standards of performance for existing coal-fired power plants. EPA asserts that the ACE Rule will eventually reduce GHG emissions to a similar extent as the CPP would have; however, according to EPA, the ACE Rule would reduce GHG emissions by 1.5% by 2030, compared to 32% by 2030 under the CPP. Interested parties will have 60 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register to comment on the ACE Rule.

To read the full alert, click here.

The Blockchain Energizer – Volume 34

By Buck B. Endemann, Benjamin L. Tejblum, Daniel S. 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. 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, please click here.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources holds Hearing to Discuss Energy Efficiency and Cybersecurity of Blockchain Applications.
  • Energi Mine and Jem Energy Partner to Incentivize Consumers to Reduce their Energy Use.
  • Petroteq is Collaborating with MetzOhanian to Develop Blockchain Applications for Oil and Gas Blockchain PetroBLOQ.
  • China’s Largest Electric Bus Operator to Raise Capital through Asset-backed Digital Products Distributed via Blockchain.

To view more information on theses topics in Volume 34 of the Blockchain Energizer, click here.

The Blockchain Energizer – Volume 33

By Buck B. Endemann, Benjamin L. Tejblum, Daniel S. 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. 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, please click here.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • Four New York Utilities Will Collaborate to Develop “Transformative” Use Cases for “Shared Blockchain Infrastructure.”
  • Franklin County Public Utility District (“PUD”) Becomes Third Washington PUD to Place a Moratorium on Cryptocurrency Miner Applications for Electricity.
  • Green Power Exchange and bitcoinClean Developers Partner to Promote a Green Energy Trading and a Green bitcoin Hardfork.

To view more information on theses topics in Volume 33 of the Blockchain Energizer, click here.

K&L Gates Advises innogy on Acquisition of More Than 2,000 MW Onshore Wind Projects

3 August 2018

The Blockchain Energizer – Volume 32

By: Buck B. Endemann, Benjamin L. Tejblum, Daniel S. 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. 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.

IN THIS ISSUE

  • The Arizona Corporation Commission Opens the First Blockchain-focused Utility Regulatory Docket.
  • Energy Web Foundation and LO3 Energy Partner to Standardize Data on Tobalaba.

To view more information on theses topics in Volume 32 of the Blockchain Energizer, click here.

Powering America: The Role of Energy Storage in the Nation’s Electricity System

By Kathleen Nicholas and Tim Peckinpaugh

Today, the House Energy and Commerce Committee convened its eleventh hearing in its “Powering America” series.  The series goal is to examine all aspects of the U.S. electricity sector, and today the focus was on energy storage.  Members on both sides of the political divide agreed utilization of battery and other storage systems presents an opportunity to better optimize the country’s electricity system, and help bolster vulnerable places like Puerto Rico and rural areas.

The witnesses today were:

  • Dr. Keith E. Casey, Vice President, Market and Infrastructure Development, California ISO (Opening Statement)
  • Mr. Mark Frigo, Vice President and Head of Energy Storage, E.ON North America (Opening Statement)
  • Mr. Kiran Kumaraswamy, Market Applications Director, Fluence (Opening Statement)
  • Dr. Zachary Kuznar, Director, CHP Microgrid and Energy Storage Development, Duke Energy Corporation (Opening Statement)
  • Mr. Kushal Patel, Partner, Energy and Environmental Economics, Incorporated (Opening Statement)

A variety of topics were broached during the hearing, including ways the federal government can be helpful to the storage industry and how large-scale storage can be applied to the grid in ways that increase resiliency and reliability, and are beneficial to ratepayers.

You can view an archived video of the webcast here.

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