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CPUC Adopts Pilots Aimed At Procuring DERs In Lieu of Grid Investment

February 19, 2021

On February 12, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued an order adopting two pilots to test two frameworks for procuring distributed energy resources (DERs) to avoid or defer utility distribution investments by the state’s three investor-owned utilities. The first framework, coined as the Partnership Pilot by the CPUC, is a five-year pilot establishing a DER distribution deferral tariff with a tiered payment structure open to any DER customer type. The Standard-Offer-Contract Pilot, the second…

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On Day 1, President Biden Creates Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases

By Brandon Rattiner

January 21, 2021

The gears of the administrative state are whirling as President Biden refocuses federal agencies on fighting climate change. Yesterday’s Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis (“EO”) shows just how seriously the incoming Administration views this reorientation, and it identifies a tool central to its strategy: enlarging the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases (“GHGs”).…

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New EU SCIP Chemical Notification Requirements Enter into Force

By Cándido García Molyneux

December 30, 2020

As of January 5, 2021, all EU suppliers of articles containing a REACH Candidate List substance in a concentration above 0,1% must submit a notification to the European Chemicals Agency (“ECHA”). The new notification requirement – so-called “SCIP notification” – may apply to virtually all types of “objects” supplied in the EU, and is an additional step in the EU’s implementation of its Circular Economy strategy. It is intended to help ECHA create a database…

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FERC Rule: Some Fuel Cell Facilities May Qualify as QFs

By Bud Earley

December 18, 2020

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has opened the door for fuel cell systems with integrated hydrocarbon reformation equipment to be certified as Qualifying Facility cogenerators under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). The agency adopted a final rule that amends the definition of the useful thermal output of a QF cogenerator so that such fuel cell systems may qualify.…

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DOE Rule Sharply Limits Evaluation of Environmental Impacts of LNG Exports

By Bud Earley

December 10, 2020

In a recently adopted final rule, the Department of Energy (DOE) revised its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementation procedures to include LNG exports by marine vessel within a categorical exclusion from NEPA review. DOE finds that the only source of potential environmental impacts within its authority to review are those associated with transporting natural gas by ship, which DOE determined does not pose the potential for significant environmental impacts. Accordingly, LNG exports qualify…

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California Employers Must Comply with New Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standards

By Carolyn Rashby, Thomas Brugato & Daniel Auten

December 9, 2020

On November 30, 2020, emergency temporary COVID-19 workplace standards (“ETS”) issued by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (“Cal/OSHA”) took effect. The ETS, which requires stringent workplace protocols intended to curb the spread of COVID-19, applies to all California employers, other than those subject to the Cal/OSHA Aerosol Transmissible Disease standard or those with only one employee at the workplace who does not have contact with others. Under the ETS, employers must adopt…

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The CMA’s market study into the UK electric vehicle charging sector

By James Marshall, Ben Donovan & Summreen Mahween

December 4, 2020

On 2 December 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) announced a market study (the “study”) into the UK’s bourgeoning electric vehicle charging sector. This blog post considers the scope of the study, and may be of interest to Electric Vehicle market participants across the supply chain.…

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The UK’s 10-point Green Industrial Revolution Plan

By Thomas Reilly & Graham Vinter

November 19, 2020

With the UK due to host the COP 26 climate summit in a year’s time, the UK Government is keen to set out its credentials as a global ‘green‘ leader and demonstrate not only that it can make good on its election promise to level up (with much of the promised Green Industrial Revolution investment being focused in old industrial heartlands in the North of England), but that it intends to seize the coronavirus pandemic…

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Covington Experts Discuss Decarbonization Strategies in the EU and US at a Leading Global Sustainable Technology Conference

By Lindsay Brewer

November 3, 2020

In October 2020, Covington public policy experts Sebastian Vos and Gary Guzy were invited to the 2020 CleanEquity Monaco sustainable technology conference to discuss the policy outlook in the EU and US, and likely impacts on efforts to decarbonize carbon-intensive sectors of the economy. The event was presented globally on EarthX TV. Covington’s London-based emerging companies, corporate partner Simon Amies introduced the panel discussion and Washington-based environmental and public policy associate Lindsay Brewer moderated.…

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FERC Proposes QF Status for Some Fuel Cell Facilities

By Bud Earley

October 23, 2020

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) that would allow certain Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) systems to be certified as Qualifying Facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) and thus receive regulatory benefits meant, in part, to encourage the innovation and development of cogeneration facilities. The proposal applies to SOFC systems that use heat and steam to convert natural gas to hydrogen, which then…

Inside Energy & Environment

Developments in law and policy of energy, commodities and environment

CPUC Adopts Pilots Aimed At Procuring DERs In Lieu of Grid Investment

On Day 1, President Biden Creates Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases

New EU SCIP Chemical Notification Requirements Enter into Force

FERC Rule: Some Fuel Cell Facilities May Qualify as QFs

DOE Rule Sharply Limits Evaluation of Environmental Impacts of LNG Exports

California Employers Must Comply with New Cal/OSHA COVID-19 Workplace Safety Standards

The CMA’s market study into the UK electric vehicle charging sector

The UK’s 10-point Green Industrial Revolution Plan

Covington Experts Discuss Decarbonization Strategies in the EU and US at a Leading Global Sustainable Technology Conference

FERC Proposes QF Status for Some Fuel Cell Facilities

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