As we mentioned here, our client Secure Futures is installing a solar facility on the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness. That work has just begun in earnest, as announced by the UR Communications office here. As alumni of our local university and law school (Eric...
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,...
On January 25th, the Supreme Court issued a landmark decision for the electricity industry, and particularly for demand response providers, settling considerable unease and speculation as to the future of the demand response industry. The term “demand response” generally refers to programs allowing individual customers...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday declined to halt the implementation of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan (“CPP”). The CPP, which requires states to submit proposals to reduce carbon emissions from power generation facilities, was promulgated by the EPA on...
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...
