The Maryland State Bar Association, Construction Law Section recently published a Synopsis of Construction Related Bills in the 2014 Session of the Maryland General Assembly (through February 28, 2014), including, for example, bills on the licensing and regulation of electricians, solar farms construction requirements, and introducing the Prevailing Wage Rates…
Yesterday, Pillsbury attorneys Brad Raffle, Tom Campbell, Anthony Cavender and Nicholas Krohn published their advisory titled The Fish and Wildlife Service Lists the Lesser Prairie-Chicken as a Threatened Species Under the Endangered Species Act. The Advisory discusses the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s March 21, 2014 final rule which…
Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that the U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman, Colombia’s Minister of Energy and Mines Amylkar Acosta, Mayor of Santiago de Calí Rodrigo Guerrero, and Director of Planning of Colombia Tatyana Orozco have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) “to collaborate in…
The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that the following 20 collegiate teams have been selected to compete in the U.S. Solar Decathlon 2015 that will be held at the Orange County Great Park, located between Los Angeles and San Diego, in Irvine, California: California Polytechnic State University California State…
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System — the largest concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in the world — officially opened on February 13, 2014. According to its website, “[l]ocated in the Mojave Desert, Ivanpah has 347,000 garage door-sized mirrors distributed across 173,500 heliostats. The heliostats track with the sun so…
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) recently posted its list of Major Solar Projects in the United States Operating, Under Construction, or Under Development (updated Feb. 3, 2014), which includes ground-mounted solar projects, 1 MW and above, compiled from company press releases, news releases and, in some cases, conversations with developers.…
On January 27, 2014, The Solar Foundation, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission “is to increase understanding of solar energy through strategic research that educates the public and transforms markets,” released its fourth annual National Solar Jobs Census 2013. Their Census, which reports on the “current employment and projected…
On January 29, 2014, Pillsbury attorney Osama E. Hamdy published their alert titled DC Circuit Affirms Crucial FAA No Hazard Determination for Cape Wind Project discussing the DC Circuit’s recent decision upholding the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) 2012 determination of no hazard, clearing the final FAA hurdle to construction of…
UPDATE: SolarCoin reports First US SolarCoin grant given to SolarCity customer in Arizona (Mar. 11, 2014) Renewable energy and crypto-currency are hardly two concepts one would expect to be mentioned in the same blog or article. We are all familiar with renewable energy – wind, solar, etc. Crypto-currency, on the…
UPDATES: Stanford engineers develop state-by-state plan to convert U.S. to 100% clean, renewable energy by 2050; Energy Department Offers Conditional Commitment to Cape Wind Offshore Wind Generation Project (Jul. 1, 2014); Energy Department Announces $10 million for Wave Energy Demonstration at Navy’s Hawaii Test Site (Apr. 28, 2014) On December…