North Carolina Definitively Defeats Effort to Repeal Renewable Energy Policy

A bill to repeal the US state of North Carolina's Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Standard (REPS) has stalled in a committee of the North Carolina House of Representatives, failing to win the support of some members of the Republican Party.

A companion bill, S 365, has stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee, after being passed out the Senate Finance Committee through a questionable vote. Both bills failed to meet the May 16th, 2013 “cross-over” deadline for this session of the legislature, and thus are dead in the water.

US Senate Bill Would Open MLP Business Structure to Renewable Energy

Legislation recently introduced in the US Senate seeks to level the energy playing field between fossil and renewable energy projects. The bill, titled the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, would allow investors in renewable energy projects access the corporate structure of master limited partnerships.

The business structure offers tax significant tax benefits to investors, this is now available to investors in fossil energy projects only.

The bipartisan bill was introduced by Senators. Chris Coons, D-Del.; Jerry Moran, R-Kan.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, on 24 April. The bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Finance

Ratepayers Save Under Ohio’s Green-Energy Law

The “green” energy provisions of a 2008 state energy law have saved consumers $170 million, according to Ohio State University findings that run counter to the argument that the law’s requirements have contributed to an increase in bills.

The study, sponsored by a green-energy trade group, says customers’ electricity bills were 1.4 percent lower than they would have been without the law, a difference of about $170 million from 2008 to 2012. That translates to a little more than a dollar per month for a typical household.

“It appears to be a win-win for the ratepayers and for the Ohio economy,” said Joseph Fiksel, a co-author of the study and executive director of OSU’s Center for Resilience. His research center looks into ways that industrial systems can be made more efficient and environmentally friendly.

State May Start Funding Energy-Storage Projects for Solar and Wind

For the first time, New Jersey’s clean energy program is proposing that it hand out money to energy-storage projects, which are viewed by many experts as a crucial element in helping technologies like solar and wind become more successful.

In a straw proposal developed in the Office of Clean Energy at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the staff is suggesting that the state allocate between $5 million and $10 million over the next four years for energy storage. The proposal says it may award up to $2.5 million in state fiscal year 2014. Over four years, the total could rise to $10 million.

Nepal Striving for a Strong Renewable Energy Policy

The government introduced a revised subsidy policy back in February to increase the spread of renewable energy technologies in Nepal. In revising the existing subsidy policy and recognising the importance of alternative energy sources such as wind in the national energy mix, it has helped spell out some clear priorities. The report cites rural electrification as a major national energy policy concern and underscores the importance of harnessing locally available resources in meeting the rural energy needs. The design of the subsidy rate under the revised renewable policy aims to cover 40 percent of total costs of installations from subsidy, 40 percent from soft loans and remaining 20 percent from direct users or beneficiaries such as community or households.

Ghana’s Energy Plan Ambitious – US Energy Advisor

A senior US energy advisor has lauded Ghana for having an ambitious plan for the development of its energy sector, he says by putting in place all the necessary energy policies such as the renewable energy policy, it is time for implementation to drive energy sector growth.

“Ghana has an ambitious energy plan and its time for implementation,” Raffi V. Ballian, Senior Renewable Energy Advisor at the US State Department told ghanabusinessnews.com in an interview May 14, 2013 in Accra.

FERC Jurisdiction and Renewable Energy: What Developers Should Be Thinking About

By Ben Falber
Cleantech Law Partners

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) recently proposed reforms to the interconnection regulations for small generators – those with a capacity of 20 MW or less. These reforms are meant to make the interconnection process for solar and wind faster and cheaper. Details on the proposed rules and how to participate in the currently open comment period can be found here.

Greenpeace for Revision of Renewable Energy Policy in India

In the backdrop of a persistent power crisis and raging coal scam, Greenpeace today released its assessment report on Renewable Purchase Obligation (RPO) titled “Powering Ahead on Renewables: Leaders and Laggards”, which ranks performance of all the states on renewable energy supply and calls for revision of RPO mechanism based on equity principle.

Good News! North Carolina Votes to Keep Renewable Energy Policy

North Carolina lawmakers voted down the bill which would have rolled back and then eliminated the state's renewable energy policy, the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). 

The vote on the bill, modeled on ALEC's Electricity Freedom Act, was 18-13 in the House Public Utilities Committee, making it unlikely that it will move to a House vote.  

Russia Unveils Draft Renewable Energy Law

Russia’s Energy Ministry submitted a draft renewable energy law to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for approval on 15 April. It is aimed at supporting the deployment of renewable energy sources including solar, wind and hydroelectric power plants across the country.

NC House Panel Halts Renewable Energy Law Repeal

House Republicans on Wednesday helped sink a bill pushed by one of their own leaders that would have scaled back and later repealed requirements that North Carolina electric companies generate a set portion of power through efficiencies and alternative sources.

MLPs Under Consideration to Finance VT Renewable Energy

Vermont has introduced legislation intended to make renewable energy projects easier to finance.

Representative Peter Welch's Master Limited Partnership Parity Act would allow renewable energy companies to take advantage of master limited partnerships (MLP) -- a key financing tool used by the energy sector, which has driven investments in oil, gas, and coal projects for nearly 30 years.

GOP Fighting Over Renewable Energy Bill, While McCrory touting renewables conference

The bill to end subsidies and the requirement that power companies develop alternative energy sources that is working its way through a divided GOP in the state House has an interesting future ahead of it -- especially since the governor's commerce secretary is promoting a renewables conference.

R.I. Renewable Energy Laws Among the Best

While adapting to a changing climate is important, it’s perhaps even more important that we make a commitment to addressing the root causes of climate change. Scientists agree that many chemical compounds found in the atmosphere act as greenhouse gases. These gases allow sunlight to enter the atmosphere freely. When sunlight strikes the Earth’s surface, some of it is reflected back toward space as infrared radiation — heat.

State Renewable Energy Policy Developments - March Recap

Attacks on state renewable energy deployment policies continue in at least twenty-two states. However the news is not all bad with a near equal balance of states presenting opportunities to expand, strengthen or improve existing renewable energy policies. For fellow energy policy wonks out there, the North Carolina Solar Center posted this handy compendium of all state-level renewable and clean energy legislative developments taking place in 2013. Below is a brief March recap of the states where NRDC is actively defending, strengthening or improving policies to promote clean and renewable energy deployment.

Analyst: U.S. Renewable Energy Policy Is Superior To Europe's Policies

One energy analyst is challenging the commonly held belief that European nations' renewable energy policies are more progressive than those in place in the U.S.

"Whisper it quietly," says Jonathan Lane, head of consulting for power utilities at research firm GlobalData. "The U.S. has a more progressive renewable support policy than Europe. In the U.S., the major federal support scheme for renewables - the production tax credit - provides a tax break for renewable generators of $0.022/kWh for 10 years."

FERC Proposes Reforms to Benefit Interconnection of Renewable Resources, Including Solar

By Natara Feller, Esq. and Benjamin Falber

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) is proposing four reforms to better facilitate connection of small renewable generation facilities – particularly solar facilities - to the power grid.  On January 17, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (“NOPR”)  on interconnections for facilities of 20 megawatts or less.  This is excellent news for local, small scale solar and wind generation.

Debate over renewable energy funding solutions

Renewable energy is quickly becoming the way forward for U.S. energy supply. The benefits of renewable energy, such as improved national and economic security, have wide-ranging appeal. But this technology is expensive, and politicians, utilities, analysts and manufacturers all have their own opinions about how to pay for it.

Tax credits have traditionally been a main tool in mitigating the high costs of renewable energy development. But the recent Production Tax Credit (PTC) extension is widely expected to be temporary solution.

Renewable energy law could be adopted this month in Poland

Poland’s new renewable energy law is expected to be adopted by the government by the end of March. However, due to the EC notification process, it is not anticipated to enter into force until mid-2014. Meanwhile, mandatory certification for imported biomass has been suggested.

In the coming days, Poland’s Ministry of Economy is scheduled to present a revised bill for renewable energy funding to the Cabinet. Following the adoption of the draft law by the Cabinet – expected by the end of March – it will be sent to Parliament, where only minor changes should be made.

What is Next for Renewable Energy Project Financing?

By Brian Seaman

Cleantech Law Partners

The Treasury § 1603 program was authorized in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and supported $38.6B of investment in renewable power development, and 16.9 GW of new installed renewable energy .  But with the 2011 expiration of the program – and the associated grants of up to 30% of qualifying project costs – developers, investors, and environmentalists are looking to the federal government to make minor, common-sense changes to current tax code to accelerate private investment in the renewable energy industry.  The most promising changes which have been proposed would affect existing investment vehicles like Master Limited Partnerships and Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Estonia to Retract Pledge on Wind Energy Subsidy Limits

Estonia will keep an annual cap on the volume of wind energy eligible for subsidies, retracting a pledge to a renewable energy lobby last year, to lower power costs and limit the amount of subsidized output, Economy Minister Juhan Parts said.

Wind energy subsidies will be capped at the current total output of 600 gigawatts per year in the amended electricity market legislation under consideration in Parliament, Parts said in an interview in Tallinn yesterday. In July, it agreed with the Estonian Renewable Energy Association to remove the ceiling in exchange for cutting the size of the support.

RWE's Renewables Unit Calls For More Reform of German Energy Policy

Germany urgently needs to press ahead with reforming its energy market, but a series of elections, including general elections in the autumn, could mean standstill for much of 2013, said utility RWE AG's (RWE.XE) renewable energies chief Thursday.

Speaking to journalists at the company's head office in Essen, Hans Buenting, managing director of RWE Innogy GmbH, said that the government's top priority in terms of energy policy this year should be a reform of the renewable energies law to help contain the spiraling costs of subsidizing "green" technologies like wind and solar power.

Senators introduce wind moratorium bill

State Sens. Robert Hartwell, D-Bennington, and Joseph Benning, R-Caledonia, say they will introduce a bill this legislative session that would establish a three-year moratorium on wind projects with a production capacity of more than 500 kilowatts.

Hartwell and Benning say they drafted the bill in response to increasing public pressure from their constituents who want to slow down the Vermont Public Service Board’s (PSB) permitting process for renewable energy developers, and to allow for more participation and consideration of municipal guidelines and time to assess health and environmental concerns raised by constituents.

A Late Christmas 'tax extender' gift for Renewable Energy

The US Senate's "fiscal cliff" package wasn't exactly eight maids a-milking--the traditional gift for the eighth day of Christmas--though it did apparently resolve the impending "milk cliff".  Of greater relevance, the "tax extender" portion of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 passed by both the Senate and House of Representatives represented a gift to renewable energy producers and developers worth around $18 billion. 

United States: Renewable Energy Tax Provisions In The Fiscal Cliff Legislation – The "American Taxpayer Relief Act Of 2012"

The House of Representatives last night approved H.R. 8, the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012" (the "Bill"), by a vote of 257-167. The Bill was approved earlier in the day by the Senate by a vote of 89-8. Still pending signature by the President, the Bill addresses various expiring tax cuts and pending budgetary requirements, together commonly referred to as the "fiscal cliff." This Client Alert addresses several of the provisions of the Bill that are relevant to ongoing and future projects in the renewable energy space.