The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) has supercharged global interest in U.S. battery storage, forcing companies to change their approach to the market. We look at how this generational legislation is driving growth and...more
On December 30, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (“9th Circuit”) affirmed a lower court’s denial of the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe’s (“Tribe”) motion to remand to state court and its dismissal of the...more
On February 8, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released draft guidance (Draft Guidance) on the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Act) (known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) Section 247 incentive, one of the...more
2022 was an active year for the hydropower industry, and as 2023 begins, it’s appropriate to review last year’s highlights and forecast the anticipated trends to continue this year. ...more
On September 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit issued an opinion in Save the Colorado, et al. v. Spellmon. The case arose from various conservation group challenges to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers...more
On September 9, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it would distribute $13.5 million to incentivize hydroelectric generation in the United States. The financial support is part of the Hydroelectric Production...more
On September 22, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) issued an order on rehearing (Rehearing Order), denying the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (Interior) request to include a requirement for a...more
On April 15, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an Equity Action Plan (EAP) that introduces a two-year overhaul to review its policies to better promote equity and remove barriers to environmental...more
On April 3, representatives of the hydropower industry, Native American tribes, and conservation organizations provided a package of proposed legislative reforms to the Federal Power Act (FPA) to the ranking members of the...more
On February 22, 2022, FERC issued a Supplemental Notice regarding its planned Technical Conference on its Notice of Inquiry on Financial Assurance Measures for licenses, scheduled to take place on Tuesday, April 26 at...more
On March 24, 2022, FERC issued an Order Addressing Arguments Raised on Rehearing and Denying Motion for Temporary Stay regarding The Nevada Hydro Company, Inc.’s (Nevada Hydro) October 2017 license application for its...more
On October 21, the Department of Energy (DOE)’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) issued An Examination of the Hydropower Licensing and Federal Authorization Process, in which it examined the various statutory and...more
On October 21, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) issued an Order to Show Cause and Notice of Proposed Penalty to Ampersand Cranberry Lake Hydro, LLC (Ampersand)....more
On December 16, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) issued a final rule amending its regulations governing the dam safety of FERC-licensed hydroelectric projects under the Federal Power Act...more
On November 5th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the more than $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the bipartisan infrastructure framework (BIF). The Senate had already approved the...more
On July 6, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a funding opportunity for the research and development of wave energy converter (WEC) technologies for advancement toward wave energy commercial viability. As much as...more
In June 2021, Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced The Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectric and River Restoration Act of 2021, which would establish a tax credit for certain investments in...more
On July 14, 2021, the City and County of Denver, Colorado, acting through its Board of Water Commissioners (“Denver Water”), filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, requesting...more
On March 17, 2021, a coalition of environmental organizations and clean energy groups led by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for a rulemaking that would...more
In an order dated May 20, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, or the Commission) terminated the hydropower licenses for three projects located on the Tittabawasee River in Michigan—the Secord (P-10809),...more
In an April 15 order, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC, or the Commission) imposed a historic $15 million civil penalty on the licensee for the Sanford, Secord, and Smallwood Dams in Michigan for failing to...more
Happy new year!
We begin 2021 with a transition of leadership in the Presidency and the U.S. Senate, and with the recent news that President Biden has named Richard Glick as the new FERC Chair. All of these changes in...more
On Tuesday, October 13, the National Hydropower Association (NHA) announced its partnership with American Rivers, the World Wildlife Fund, and other environmental groups in a “Joint Statement of Collaboration on U.S....more
On August 18, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued an order clarifying its filing requirements in the event its e-filing system malfunctions....more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) released a Notice of Inquiry (Notice) on January 19, 2021 to solicit public comments on whether FERC should impose financial assurance requirements on...more