Articles Posted in Energy

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Updates to the CEQA Guidelines Have Been Finalized

The California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) recently posted final adopted text for amendments to the CEQA Guidelines.  The result of over five years of development efforts by the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research and CNRA, the amendments are the most comprehensive update to the CEQA Guidelines since 1998.  In…

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Post-Election Outlook

Pillsbury attorneys Stephan E. Becker, Charles F. Donley II, Emily B. Erlingsson, Brian E. Finch, Aimee P. Ghosh, Meghan C. Hammond, Laura E. Jennings, The Honorable Gregory H. Laughlin, Jeffrey S. Merrifield, Elizabeth V. Moeller, Matthew Oresman, Craig J. Saperstein, Edward W. Sauer, and  Deborah S. Thoren-Peden discuss the 2018 Midterm…

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Insight: U.S. Energy 2019

Pillsbury energy partner Rob James authored Energy 2019: USA, in which he provides an overview of the current U.S. energy marketplace and discuss Ongoing incentives at the state level for offshore wind, other forms of renewable power, and electric storage; Impacts of dueling tariffs and trade restrictions on the energy…

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Illinois Supreme Court Reverses Circuit Court Finding Lack of Jurisdiction Over Public Utility Administrative Actions

On October 18, the Illinois Supreme Court decided the case of Ameren Transmission Co. of Illinois v. Hutchings, et al. According to the Illinois Supreme Court, there is no presumption that Illinois courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over administrative actions. The availability of any review of this determination was controlled by the…

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DC Circuit Rules on Challenges to EPA’s 2015 Final Rule Governing Disposal of Coal Residuals Produced by Electric Companies and Independent Power Plants

On August 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided the “coal combustions residuals” case: Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, et al. , v. EPA. This new Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) case could have important implications for the coal industry and powerplants that use coal. In April 2015,…

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A Trio of Environmental Decisions from the Fourth Circuit

Within the past few weeks, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has issued some very significant rulings regarding the construction of new natural gas pipelines. These cases are Berkley, et al. v. Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, decided July 25; Sierra Club, Inc., et al., v. U.S. Forest Service,…

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D.C. Court of Appeals Rejects Constitutional Argument Challenging FERC’s Cost Recovery from Industry Participants

On July 10, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided another Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) case, Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Maya Van Rossum v. FERC. The plaintiffs levelled a broad US. Constitutional Due Process Clause challenge at the statutory mandate from Congress that FERC recover its costs from the…

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D.C. Circuit Rejects FERC’s Licensing Decision, Vacating and Remanding the Matter for Further Work

Another important case was decided by U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on July 6, American Rivers and Alabama Rivers Alliance v. FERC. The Alabama Power Company, whose application to re-license its electrical power generating facility serving Coosa River Basin in Alabama, GA, and TN was at issue, is…

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Experts Discuss Technological, Logistical and Regulatory Factors Affecting Energy Storage Growth

At the Deutsche Bank/Pillsbury Energy Storage Forum, held in New York on March 14, our colleague Rob James discussed battery technologies and the forces driving an increase in energy storage investment and innovation. Click here to download the presentation or watch the video.