A recent Texas case, Lyle v. Midway Solar, S.W. 3d, 2020 WL 7769632 (Tex. App. Ct., El Paso 83rd Dist. 2020), addressed a challenge that many solar developers wrestle with: how to handle minerals owners. The El Paso Court of Appeals clarified this complex issue and demonstrated the importance of properly addressing the minerals on a site prior to developing a project.
Key Takeaways for Renewable Energy Developers:
This is an important case that renewable…
On February 5, 2021, House Democrats reintroduced the GREEN Act. The GREEN Act extends federal tax credits for renewable energy and expands them to include new storage technology.
Key provisions include:
extending the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for solar energy at 30% through 2025 before phasing down to 26% in 2026, 22% in 2027 and then 10% from there;
extending the 30% investment tax credit for offshore wind property through 2026;
preserving the wind…
Europe’s offshore wind sector enjoyed a record $31 billion of investment in 2020. The U.S has some serious work to do to catch up. While development of land-based wind and solar projects continues at a rapid pace across the U.S., we lag far behind many other countries when it comes to offshore project development. There are currently only two small offshore wind projects operating in the U.S.
There are signs, though, that change is coming.…
ERCOT has experienced more attention to and development of Private Use Networks (“PUN”) in the last months and years. This post summarizes what these “islands in the grid” are, their positive attributes, and how to create one.
If you find this post helpful, or would like to hear more about PUNs, we will be presenting more detailed information on this subject in a March 30th “Private Use Networks & Self-Generation: What You Need to Know”…
Donna Pryor and Leah Kaiser have written an article on Safety Law Matters outlining OSHA’s new guidance on mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. The latest OSHA guidance standardizes a new name for employer policies: “COVID-19 Prevention Program.” In the guidance, OSHA states employers should implement COVID-19 Prevention Programs in the workplace.
The guidance extends to all industries, including oil, gas and mining.
For more information, read the article here.…
Donna Pryor has written an article outlining President Biden’s new OSHA executive order that was published on Safety Law Matters, directing OSHA to issue revised guidance to employers on workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Assistant Secretary of Labor for MSHA was also directed to consider whether any emergency temporary standards on COVID-19 applicable to mines are determined to be necessary.
Read the article here.…
On Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit vacated and remanded the Trump administration’s 2019 Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule. The ACE rule was intended as a replacement for the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP). ACE was viewed as a significant rollback, especially since the CPP was one of the first major initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Court’s decision will send the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) back to the drawing board, opening the door for…
Partner Megan Caldwell recently published “Trump Makes Last Minute Push to Boost Coal, But Biden Presidency’s Vow to Decarbonize Power Generation Causes Concern” in Coal Age, discussing recent and anticipated changes impacting the coal industry as the Trump administration ends and Biden kickstarts his ambitious clean energy agenda.
Read the article here.…
Partner Megan Caldwell recently published “EPA Rollback of Rule Regulating Wastewater from Steam Electric Plants Allows Coal Companies Some Relief” in Rock Products Magazine, discussing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rollback of former President Barack Obama-era limits on wastewater effluent regulations governing the amount of toxic metals that coal-fired power plants can discharge in their wastewater.…
Coty Hopinks-Baul recently published “Implementation of Navigable Waters Protection Rule” in Rock Products Magazine, discussing the new rule and how the agencies charged with implementing it will encounter new policy considerations and may struggle with consistency in decision-making.…