The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two additional legal challenges to the Vineyard Wind 1 Project (the Project). On December 5, 2024, a First Circuit panel issued a consolidated...more
12/11/2024
/ Appeals ,
Dismissals ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Fishing Industry ,
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) ,
NEPA ,
Offshore Wind ,
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ,
Permits ,
Renewable Energy ,
Trade Associations
California currently deploys almost 35 GW of renewable energy but expects another 148 GW of renewables will be needed to meet the state’s overarching 2045 clean energy goals. To fill this gap, California expects offshore wind...more
7/26/2024
/ California ,
Clean Energy ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment ,
Offshore Wind ,
Popular ,
Procurement Guidelines ,
Proposed Guidance ,
Public Utility ,
Renewable Energy ,
Transmission Planning
On May 13, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or Commission) issued a final rule amending its regulations governing FERC’s review of applications for transmission siting permits pursuant to section 216 of...more
On May 13, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued a landmark final rule implementing transmission planning and cost allocation reforms intended to promote the more efficient and...more
5/23/2024
/ Chevron v NRDC ,
Compliance ,
Electricity ,
FERC ,
Final Rules ,
Infrastructure ,
Jurisdiction ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Shareholders ,
Tariffs ,
Transmission Planning ,
West Virginia v EPA
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two legal challenges to the Vineyard Wind 1 project (the Project). On April 24 and April 25, 2024, the same panel of First Circuit judges issued...more
Judge Indira Talwani of the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts has rejected another challenge to federal permits and approvals for the Vineyard Wind Project (Vineyard Wind or the Project). Vineyard Wind is...more
10/18/2023
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
BOEM ,
Clean Water Act ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Fishing Industry ,
Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) ,
NEPA ,
Offshore Wind ,
Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act ,
Standing ,
Summary Judgment ,
US Army Corps of Engineers
The offshore wind industry now has California’s answer to a pressing concern—how might the state procure this generation resource? California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a suite of bills that create a mechanism for...more
On July 28, 2023, following up on its June 2022 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“Generator Interconnection Reform NOPR”), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued its long-awaited rulemaking...more
Two recent developments may have meaningful impacts on the implementation of Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). First, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Maine Lobstermen’s Association v....more
A federal court has denied a request by members of the fishing industry to pause offshore construction of the Vineyard Wind Project (Project), the first modern utility-scale offshore wind project in the United States to...more
The federal government has successfully defended its approvals of the Vineyard Wind project offshore Massachusetts (Project), setting the stage for further decisions as other challenges proceed. Vineyard Wind is the first...more
The federal government’s offshore wind program notched another important victory on March 9, 2023, when the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the New York Bight...more
On January 12, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) announced a proposed rule (the “Modernization Rule”) to modernize its regulations for renewable energy development on the...more
Many east coast states procuring offshore wind are now pivoting towards tackling the difficulties of interconnecting this significant resource. While some states, like New Jersey and New York, are working independently to...more
On August 30, 2022, the Fifth Circuit issued an opinion condemning a far-reaching Texas law on electric transmission right-of-first-refusal (“ROFR”). The decision concerns a 2019 Texas law that restricted the ability to...more
California’s updated planning goals for offshore wind: between 2 to 5 GW by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045. The California Energy Commission (“CEC”) formally adopted the foregoing planning goals pursuant to its obligations under...more