Our coverage of the CERAWeek conference by S&P Global in Houston, running from March 18 to March 22, continues with more updates. Today’s missive comes from the Innovation Agora, which is connected to the Executive Conference...more
Yesterday marked the start of CERAWeek 2024 by S&P Global, and for the rest of this week Morgan Lewis partners Kirstin Gibbs and Felipe Alice will be reporting back on the key themes and ideas they are uncovering as the...more
The global impact of our planet’s changing climate garnered significant attention in 2021. The United States rejoined the Paris Agreement at the beginning of the year, and in November, during the United Nations Climate Change...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued show cause orders to two natural pipelines—Rover Pipeline and Midship Pipeline Company—following its December 2021 open meeting, and sent a related dispute involving Midship for...more
Cybersecurity threats to critical infrastructure systems are nothing new. But events over the last few years have been notable due to the seemingly increased frequency of successful attacks and the way those attacks have been...more
The US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a final rule on November 2, 2021 expanding the applicability of the federal pipeline safety regulations to certain...more
A report presented on September 23, 2021, into the February 2021 power outages in Texas and the US Midwest caused by extreme cold weather identified the causes of the outages and outlined a series of recommendations....more
In the eight months since Richard Glick took the helm of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), a number of changes to federal regulation of the development of natural gas infrastructure are in the works and several...more
How to best address impacts from our rapidly changing climate is an issue that has permeated almost all sectors of the global economy, traversing industries and impacting all. Governments and businesses around the world are...more
Nearly 200 comments were filed in response to FERC’s February 18, 2021 Notice of Inquiry (NOI) that sought new information and perspectives on whether it should revise its policy statement on the certification of new...more
6/21/2021
/ Determination of Need (DoN) ,
Electricity ,
Eminent Domain ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Justice ,
FERC ,
Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas Act ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Statement
Hydrogen has been widely touted as a solution to achieve ambitious emissions reduction goals. But in order to unleash hydrogen’s potential as a viable energy source to meet current targets, it needs to be produced in larger...more
As has been reported, a recent ransomware attack has caused an interstate pipeline and fuel supplier to much of the eastern United States to shut down its operations. Although the attack did not compromise operational...more
5/13/2021
/ Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cybersecurity ,
Hackers ,
Homeland Security Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) ,
National Security ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Supply Chain
Since the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries around the globe have been analyzing their energy and development strategies and planning to meet their commitments. While some countries have made progress by, among other things,...more
4/5/2021
/ Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Efficiency ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Green New Deal ,
Infrastructure ,
Net Zero ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Renewable Energy
FERC issued a final rule on March 18 amending its regulations to establish a one-year period for state agencies or other certifying authorities to act on requests for water quality certifications required for a certificate of...more
3/22/2021
/ Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity ,
Clean Water Act ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
Navigable Waters ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Section 401 ,
Tribal Governments ,
Water Quality
In the wake of the February extreme cold weather that caused record levels of electric generation to be taken offline, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the Commission) has scheduled a two-day technical...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) on February 18 seeking new information and comments on whether it should revise its policy statement on the certification of new interstate...more
2/19/2021
/ Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Gas ,
NEPA ,
Notice of Inquiry ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Statement
On February 17, Texas Governor Greg Abbott took the extraordinary measure of directing the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) to restrict out-of-state exports of natural gas produced in Texas through February 21. Noting the...more
After severe winter weather forced Texas into experiencing power outages and rolling blackouts, there will likely be resulting federal and state investigations into the outages, federal investigations into commodity and...more
2/18/2021
/ CFTC ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Force Majeure Clause ,
Futures ,
Government Investigations ,
Natural Gas ,
NERC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Power Grid ,
Reliability Standards ,
Severe Weather ,
Storm Damage
FERC Chairman Richard Glick announced his plans on February 11 to better incorporate environmental justice and equity concerns into FERC’s decision making process. Improving the process for reviewing and determining the need...more
2/18/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Reform ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Infrastructure ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Policy Statement ,
Regulatory Agenda
It’s been a difficult several days for the oil industry. First, the Biden administration revoked the border-crossing permit for the Keystone XL pipeline on January 20. Another executive order, among other things, directed the...more
2/1/2021
/ Bakken Shale ,
Biden Administration ,
Crude Oil ,
Dakota Access Pipeline ,
Easements ,
Energy Projects ,
Environmental Impact Statements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Executive Orders ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
NEPA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Tribal Lands ,
US Army Corps of Engineers ,
Vacated
President Joe Biden issued a series of executive orders on January 27 to further confront the “existential threat” of climate change, to reaffirm the executive branch’s commitment to evidence-based policymaking and...more
Action, or in some cases inaction, by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission or FERC) during its last open meeting before the start of the Biden administration sent a strong message to the natural gas industry...more
1/28/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Reform ,
FERC ,
Infrastructure ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Pipelines ,
Regulatory Agenda
As the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden took significant steps on his first day in office to advance the energy and climate initiatives of his administration. This LawFlash provides a brief summary of several...more
1/22/2021
/ Arctic Drilling ,
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge ,
Biden Administration ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Reform ,
Fuel Efficiency ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Keystone XL Pipeline ,
Native American Issues ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paris Agreement ,
Tribal Lands
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) proposed revisions to its Policy Statement on Natural Gas and Electric Price Indices (Policy Statement) on December 17 to encourage market participants to report transactions to...more
Following its December 17 open meeting, FERC issued an order withdrawing and terminating a proceeding that had been opened earlier this year to examine oil pipeline affiliate contracts. FERC initiated that proceeding on...more