Flood Basics still causing pain for some
Climate-Proofing Our Infrastructure: Building Climate Resilience with the Army Corps of Engineers
The Calm Before and After the Storm: How to Maximize Insurance Recovery for Catastrophic Weather Events
Law Brief®: David Pfeffer and Richard Schoenstein Discuss the Legal Implications of Infrastructure Collapses
Employer Responsibilities During the Texas Winter Storm
Filing Insurance Claims After the Texas Winter Storm
Hurricane Season Begins
In re Luminant Generation Company LLC et al is a bitter pill for the litigation hangover from Winter Storm Uri. Takeaway: Texas does not recognize a legal duty owed by wholesale power generators to retail customers to provide...more
The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (“NARUC”) and National Association of State Energy Officials (“NASEO”) released an August 2023 report titled: State Microgrid Policy, Programmatic, and...more
On June 15, 2023, FERC issued two final rules aimed at boosting bulk power system resilience by improving how grid operators assess and plan for extreme weather impacts to the transmission system. One rule directs NERC to...more
On February 16, 2023, FERC approved two new extreme cold weather Reliability Standards—EOP-011-3 (Emergency Operations) and EOP-012-1 (Extreme Cold Weather Preparedness and Operations)—filed by the North American Electric...more
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (Commission) plays a vital role in regulating the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) wholesale market, and retail energy markets throughout all of Texas. This article...more
This paper follows up on a previous assessment and overview of energy system reliability challenges experienced during the February 2021 extreme cold weather event which affected the land area comprising the Electric...more
During the 87th regular legislative session, the Texas Legislature passed several bills to address energy-related issues resulting from Winter Storm Uri. Together, the legislation required an overhaul of the ERCOT board of...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's ("FERC") Office of Electric Reliability and Enforcement and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation ("NERC") staff presented a series of findings and preliminary...more
Weeks after Hurricane Ida tore through the region, damaging thousands of businesses and flattening the power grid, the power was mostly restored in New Orleans by September 10, but countless businesses throughout southeast...more
On August 24, 2021, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") approved new cold weather electric reliability standards proposed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation ("NERC"). The standards will apply...more
Beginning on February 13, 2021, something unprecedented happened in the state of Texas—a winter storm caused temperatures to dip well-below freezing. This event, dubbed the “Black Swan Winter Event,” caused Texas to...more
The winter storm that descended on Texas in February 2021 is a reminder of why organizations should assess their strategy and operations to manage and mitigate risk before chaos ensues....more
After Winter Storm Uri devastated the ERCOT grid, calls for industry reform rang out across the state of Texas. For the past few months, public hearings and floor debates have considered wide-ranging proposals to harden the...more
Many advanced reactor developers are designing their technologies to pair with renewables. A recent report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the government entity responsible for overseeing...more
While snow in Texas may be a photo-worthy diversion, the freezing temperatures experienced by the state in February caused power systems to crash while demand was at its peak. Problems cut across all sectors, from fossil...more
Starting in late February, over 2.7 million Texas households were left without energy and over 100 people died as a severe winter storm caused a series of rolling blackouts across Texas, drawing national attention to the...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has invited public comment by April 15, 2021, on its recently opened proceeding (Docket No. AD21-13-000), which FERC has stated "will examine how grid operators prepare for and...more
Some may call the winter storm that descended on Texas a “black swan” event, but it may in fact be a “perfect storm” born out of existing market dynamics that could’ve been avoided....more
Texas has proven that a commitment to market solutions and diverse electrical infrastructure can be a recipe for success. Under the restructuring of the power market and initiatives like the competitive renewable energy zone,...more
FERC announced on February 22 that it will open a new proceeding to examine the threats of climate change and extreme weather to electric reliability. The investigation will assess how grid operators prepare for and respond...more
Responding to the Texas Winter Storm Crisis: Issue 1 - The world is witnessing yet another dramatic weather event, this time in the southern states, especially Texas. The severe winter conditions in Texas have caused...more
The winter storm that recently hit Texas has caused more power outages and damage to the electric grid than any storm in decades. However, extreme weather events have hit other regions of the U.S. more recently, and Texas may...more
Legal, legislative, and procurement issues related to this week’s widespread failures of the Texas power grid have and will continue to result in significant losses for numerous businesses and individuals in Texas and...more
On February 16, 2021, in response to the extreme cold weather events resulting in significant power outages affecting millions of electricity customers throughout the Midwest and South Central states, particularly in systems...more
Following a week of extremely cold temperatures which caused millions of Texans to be without power, in some cases for longer that three days, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that it will be...more