Author: Brian Greene

We’ve examined in detail the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) changes to implement Virginia’s 2009 “Small Renewable Energy Projects” legislation (VA Code 10.1-1197.6). The statute moved authority from the State Corporation Commission (“SCC”) to DEQ over protection of natural resources (specifically wildlife and historic...

On February 10, 2016, the Maryland Public Service Commission approved revised consumer protection regulations governing the retail sale of electricity and natural gas. The revised rules include several substantive changes relating to how retail suppliers operate in Maryland. The changes involve additional up-front pricing disclosures...

On Tuesday, February 9, 2016, the United States Supreme Court held in a five to four decision to halt enforcement of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan by the Obama administration until its legal challenges are resolved.  The challenge to the Clean Power Plan...

The Maryland Public Service Commission has established a new Working Group to develop statewide protocols that will allow retail electricity suppliers to access their customers’ smart meter interval data from the utility on a near real-time basis. In a recent Order, the Commission established the...

Dominion Resources Inc. (“Dominion”) announced Monday, February 1, 2016, that it plans to purchase Utah-based Questar Corporation (“Questar”), a natural gas distributor, for approximately $4.4 billion in an all-cash deal.  Purchasing Questar will expand Dominion’s customer base to customers in Western states.  With Questar’s acquisition,...

A group of industrial customers of Dominion Virginia Power (“Dominion”) has recently taken steps to challenge the constitutionality of Virginia’s Electric Utility Regulation Act (“Regulation Act”) at the Supreme Court of Virginia. At issue is a 2015 amendment to the Regulation Act, Senate Bill 1349,...

As we previously discussed here, any person or entity who wishes to participate as a respondent in Dominion Virginia Power’s (“Dominion”) application for approval and certificates of public convenience and necessity to construct and operate three utility scale solar electric generating facilities must file a...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="178" class="zemanta-img"] (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption] On December 21, 2015, Governor Terry McAuliffe announced that, as a way to continue momentum in Virginia’s solar industry, state agencies will derive eight percent (8%) of their energy from solar sources within the next three (3) years. ...

Dominion Virginia Power “Dominion” plans to solicit its second round of bids for a 12-megawatt offshore wind farm off the coast of Virginia after rejecting an earlier proposal that was too costly.  As proposed, the wind facility will consist of two 6-megawatt wind turbines in...