Statute
PURPA
100 published works
Washington Energy Report
Divided Panel of the D.C. Circuit Upholds FERC’s Interpretation of PURPA Size Limitations Based on “Send Out” Capacity
On September 9, 2025, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) on remand from the U.S. Supreme Court upheld FERC’s order granting Broadview…
PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog
We Are Moving “PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog” to a New Web Platform
Beginning July 8, 2024, “PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog” will be hosted on Steptoe’s main website. This transition will not impact your subscription, and you will continue to receive…
PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog
CPUC Declines to Adopt Community Renewables Proposal and Also Declines to Address the Legality of Compensation to Community Renewable Resources at Prices Above PURPA Avoided Cost
By Jennifer Key
On May 30, 2024, the Public Utilities Commission of California (CPUC) voted 3-1 to adopt an alternative Proposed Decision issued by Administrative Law Judges Kelly A. Hyme regarding a community…
PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog
Community Renewable Generators: Wholesale Power Sales Versus Net Energy Metering
By Jennifer Key
A Proposed Decision issued by Administrative Law Judges Debbie Chiv and Kelly A. Hyme of the Public Utilities Commission of California rejects a fundamental tenet of many community renewable (CR)…
Washington Energy Report
Ninth Circuit Finds that PURPA Gives FERC Broad Implementation Discretion, But Remands New Qualifying Facility Rules for Lack of NEPA Review
By Sahara Shrestha, Elizabeth McCormick
On September 5, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”), in Solar Energy Industries Association v. FERC, held that the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act…
PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog
FERC’s PURPA Reform Rule Survives Judicial Review Intact, Subject to an Environmental Assessment, as the Majority of the Ninth Circuit Panel Continues to Embrace <em>Chevron</em> Deference
By Jennifer Key
We previously indicated that “[t]he March 8, 2022 SEIA v. FERC oral argument on FERC’s PURPA reform rule – Order No. 872 – resulted in a somewhat unexpected lesson on…
PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog
Is PURPA Relevant to Non-PUPRA State Procurement Mandates? Presumably Not, But There Is a Lesson To Be Learned From the Recent Allco Challenge
By Jennifer Key
As noted in the most recent blog post, a challenge by Allco Finance Limited (Allco) to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities’ (DPU) and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources’…
PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog
Mandatory and Not So Mandatory Wholesale Purchases at State-Set Rates: Allco Leans In
By Jennifer Key
The easiest means for a state to provide a subsidy to a preferred generation/resource type or class is to mandate purchases from that class at state-mandated rates. The typical reaction…
Washington Energy Report
D.C. Circuit Upholds FERC Interpretation of PURPA Size Limitation Based on “Send out” to Point of Interconnection
By Antonia Douglas, Russell Kooistra
On February 14, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) upheld FERC’s March 2021 order granting Broadview Solar, LLC’s (“Broadview”) hybrid solar…
PURPA and Distributed Energy Resources Blog
FERC’s “Broad View” of QFs Is Accepted by the Majority of D.C. Circuit Panel, as <em>Chevron</em> Deference Takes Center Stage in a Debate that Belongs Before Congress
By Jennifer Key
Recently, the D.C. Circuit upheld FERC’s decision granting Broadview Solar’s application to become a QF in SEIA v. FERC. In doing so, the appeals court solidified FERC’s “send-out” capacity approach…