As we covered in our first alert, the U.S. Supreme Court in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overruled Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. and abandoned the Chevron doctrine, which previously...more
Early next year, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a pair of cases, which could overrule the Chevron doctrine and thereby end nearly forty years of judicial deference to federal administrative agencies’...more
In recent years, a string of cases has been brought before the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) challenging the Chevron doctrine, which states that courts should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of an...more
On September 5, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”), in Solar Energy Industries Association v. FERC, held that the Public Utility Regulatory Policy Act (“PURPA”) gives FERC broad discretion...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Sept. 5, 2023, issued a critical ruling upholding certain reforms the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued in 2020 to its regulations implementing the federal...more
In a win for independent power producers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ("D.C. Circuit" or the "Court") recently affirmed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's ("FERC's") "send-out"...more
On February 14, 2023, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“D.C. Circuit”) upheld FERC’s March 2021 order granting Broadview Solar, LLC’s (“Broadview”) hybrid solar and battery project...more
On February 14, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) method for calculating the size of a small power production qualifying facility (QF) under PURPA as...more
On February 14, 2023, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld FERC’s broad definition of qualifying facilities (“QF”) under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”). In Broadview Solar, LLC, 174 FERC ¶...more
On February 14, 2023, a divided D.C. Circuit panel affirmed FERC’s March 2021 ruling that the power output capacity of a generating facility – not the nameplate capacity of its component parts – determines its eligibility as...more
On October 25, 2022, FERC declined to act on a petition for enforcement against California’s rules for solar installations implemented pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (“PURPA”). As a result, ongoing...more
FERC issued two notable orders this spring in Irradiant Partners, LP (Docket No. EL22-8-000) and Dalreed Solar (Docket No. QF20-1037-002) that provide further guidance on qualifying facility (QF) certifications. Here are the...more
When Gov. Roy Cooper signed House Bill 951 on Oct. 13, 2021, North Carolina became the first state in the Southeast — and one of the first in the country — to authorize significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions from...more
On July 15, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“Commission” or “FERC”) issued a Final Rule amending its regulations pertaining to: (1) the information required to be filed with a notice of intent to construct a...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit (“10th Circuit”) addressed in a June 28th Opinion an issue involving the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (“PURPA”). See Solar v. City of Farmington, No. 20-2028,...more
In a unanimous decision issued this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit sided with rooftop solar owners in a dispute over the jurisdictional scheme established by the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURPA)....more
The Solar Energy Industries Association (“SEIA”) filed its Opening Brief in its challenge of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) Order No. 872 before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (“9th Circuit”). Order No....more
FERC granted a partial waiver requested by a generation and transmission service cooperative (Petitioner) of certain obligations under FERC’s regulations implementing Section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Act of 1978...more
U.S. pledges to slash solar energy costs by 60% in a decade - U.S. News & World Report – March 25 - The Biden administration on Thursday set a goal to cut the cost of solar energy by 60% over the next decade as part...more
On March 19, 2021, a divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or the “Commission”) reverted to its long-standing “send out” analysis for determining the “power production capacity” of a small power production...more
On March 18, 2021, in Order 2222-A, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) largely reaffirmed its seminal Order 2222, which dramatically relaxed barriers to aggregated distributed energy resource (DER) participation...more
On March 19, 2020, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or “Commission”) issued an Order Addressing Arguments Raised on Rehearing and Setting Aside Prior Order in Broadview Solar, LLC, 174 FERC ¶ 61,199 (2021)...more
On March 19, 2021, FERC set aside a September 1, 2020 order (“September Order”) that had upended 40 years’ worth of FERC precedent regarding how to determine the 80MW threshold for small power production qualifying facilities...more
On March 19, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued an order returning to its longtime standard used to determine a generating facility’s “power production capacity” for purposes of certification as a...more
Under Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“PURPA”) and section 292.207(b) of the Commission’s regulations, a small power production Qualifying Facility (“QF”) cannot exceed 80 megawatts (“MW”) at a single...more