Posts from — April 2009

EPA announced today that it proposes to make a finding that greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions endanger the public health and welfare. If, as widely expected, EPA finalizes that finding later this year, EPA will become legally obligated to regulate GHGs from a variety of stationary and mobile sources under the existing federal Clean Air Act (“CAA”). [Read more →]

On Thursday, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) Chairman Jon Wellinghoff presided over his first open meeting since President Obama designated him Chairman. As part of his opening remarks, Chairman Wellinghoff thanked his fellow commissioners and FERC staff for their dedication and hard work. [Read more →]

On Wednesday, the NERC Integration of Variable Generation Task Force (“IVGTF”) released a special report (“IVGTF Report”) detailing significant changes for system planning and operations to reliably integrate high levels of variable resources into the North American bulk power system. [Read more →]

On April 8, 2009, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (“NERC”) released a statement stating that although they are not aware of any known cyber attacks on the electric grid, cyber security is an area of concern for the organization. On the same day, the Wall Street Journal published an article finding breaches in the United States power grid by spies from China, Russia, and other countries. [Read more →]

On April 2, 2009, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) introduced an energy bill (S. 807) that would give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) transmission siting authority, provide nuclear power incentives, expand offshore drilling and use oil and gas revenues to fund renewable energy and efficiency. [Read more →]