The Continuing Impact of Coal Ash - Energy Law Insights
On April 25, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a set of rules aimed at cutting air, water, and land pollution from fossil fuel-fired plants. The rules would require existing coal-fired and new gas-fired...more
Coal ash – the byproduct of two centuries of burning coal to generate power – continues to roil the U.S. energy sector. Troutman Pepper’s Brian Harms and Brooks Smith discuss the dilemmas facing utilities and other energy...more
The Cost of "Electrification" “Electrification” has become a ubiquitous term these days, although depending on who you ask, it might have different meanings. However defined, a critical component of electrification as a...more
A recent report released last week by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) shows that hundreds of coal plant sites could host new nuclear reactors. Siting new nuclear at retiring coal sites, referred to as the...more
FERC Warned Renewables Planning Can Strand Grid Assets - "But at a FERC technical conference, others highlighted a potential risk for overbuilding and the cost it could incur for consumers." Why this is important: It's...more
Proceedings filed by public interest group Environment Victoria represent the first climate change litigation in Australia to challenge the licence to operate of coal-fired energy producers. A public interest group has filed...more
Welcome to Volume 5, Issue 20 of Currents. In this issue, we discuss major and interesting topics such as IGCC coal power, BP and solar projects, using coal substitutes, Republican investments in EVs, cofiring, secure mineral...more
The local economies of many communities in the southwest are tied to the operations of large coal-fired power plants. As those plants start closing, the communities can face significant disruption in their local economies...more
Welcome to Currents, our weekly publication providing insights to the latest energy news and U.S. EIA statistics. Currents is different from other e-newsletters in that it not only provides current energy articles, but it...more
Mountain Valley Says Natural Gas Pipeline Timing Depends on Litigation, U.S. Approvals - “'As the litigation process progresses and as we receive additional information from FERC regarding potentially releasing the...more
More Federal Permits Handed Down as MVP Presses FERC for Construction Restart - "The Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC told FERC that it has received a series of key federal waterbody crossing permits, bolstering its case to...more
Spain Shuts Down Half of Its Coal Power Stations - "The move away from coal is driven predominantly by fundamental economics, although these are amplified by emissions trading schemes and other measures." Why this is...more
Top Court Seeks Trump Administration Input on PennEast Pipeline - "The U.S. Supreme Court asked the Trump administration for input on a PennEast Pipeline Co. appeal that aims to jump-start a planned natural-gas line by...more
Industry Expert Insights - We reached out to a well-known expert in Mexico in the energy and legal industries to get his thoughts on the current energy climate. Juan Serra is a partner in the Mexico City office of...more
U.S. Banks Prepare to Seize Energy Assets as Shale Boom Goes Bust - "Major U.S. lenders are preparing to become operators of oil and gas fields across the country for the first time in a generation to avoid losses on loans...more
Energy Infrastructure Attacks are ‘Probable’: Oil Traders Fear Supply Disruptions in the Middle East - "A dramatic escalation of geopolitical tensions will most likely result in an unplanned oil supply shortage in the...more
On June 19, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the final “Affordable Clean Energy” (“ACE”) rule to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (“CPP”), which was suspended by the U.S. Supreme Court after...more
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued three rules on June 19 that may give utilities new reasons to consider investing in certain plant modifications and reassessing the projected lifespans of their facilities....more
Here’s my take on the Affordable Clean Energy Plan. Who cares? On the merits, it does almost nothing. It requires only that states impose heat rate improvement requirements on coal-fired power plants. It’s not going to...more
On Monday, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality issued determinations with respect to six Duke Energy coal plants, requiring that Duke close coal combustion residual surface impoundments at the plants by...more
The U.S. is Set to Become the World's Biggest Oil Exporter Thanks to the Fracking Revolution - "The U.S. shale revolution has made it to one of the world's largest energy producers and potentially the largest oil exporter...more
West Virginia Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in EQT Doddridge County Trespassing Case - "The state Supreme Court will decide if a lower court judge got it right when he ruled natural gas production company EQT trespassed...more
Plastics: The New Coal in Appalachia? "With little notice nationally, a new petrochemical and plastics manufacturing hub may be taking shape along 300 miles of the upper reaches of the Ohio River, from outside Pittsburgh...more
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal Would Reshape the Economy in 10 Years. That Could Shock the Energy Sector. "The concern is that Ocasio-Cortez's plan to achieve climate goals in just 10 years will not only tee up...more
More, Deeper Wells Planned for Existing Marcellus Site in Washington Township - "CNX has applied to the state Department of Environmental Protection for a permit to drill four new wells to tap natural gas from Utica shale...more