FERC has issued a final rule, Order No. 874, expanding the eligibility criteria for Qualifying Facilities (QFs) as defined under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to enable certain fuel cell–based electric generation to receive QF status.
Power & Pipes
FERC, CFTC, and State Energy Law Developments
Read our recent LawFlash analyzing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) Order No. 2222, which directs wholesale electric market operators to facilitate the participation of distributed energy resource (DER) aggregators under one or more participation models.
On July 10, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit found that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was well within its rights to prevent states from prohibiting energy storage resources from participating in wholesale (i.e., sales for resale) energy markets. The court’s order is the latest judicial affirmation of FERC’s authority to regulate activities on wide portions of the electric grid, including facilities reserved to state regulators, if those activities affect wholesale rates.
Nevada became the sixth state to adopt an energy storage procurement goal on March 12. The Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) adopted a regulation in Order No. 44671 that establishes biennial energy storage procurement goals of 100 MW by December 31, 2020, and increasing to 1 GW by 2030.
In response to the US president’s declaration of a national emergency due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, on March 20 the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a notice to operators stating that, effective immediately and until further notice or modification, PHMSA does not intend to take any enforcement action with respect to operator qualification (OQ) and control room management (CRM) requirements, and will consider exercising enforcement discretion regarding certain drug testing requirements.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA’s) long-awaited final rule on the minimum safety standards for underground natural gas storage facilities (UNGSFs) was published in the February 12 Federal Register.
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FERC issued guidance on October 17, 2019, that may significantly aid hydroelectric developers in planning and siting potential projects.
FERC recently issued a pair of orders approving the electric storage market participation proposals of PJM Interconnection, Inc. (PJM) and Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (SPP). PJM and SPP submitted those proposals to comply with the directives of Order No. 841, FERC’s final rule addressing the participation of electric storage resources in the capacity, energy, and ancillary service markets operated by independent system operators and regional transmission organizations.
Morgan Lewis energy partner Ken Kulak takes a look at the role of regulation in defining the future of energy storage in Energy Policy Now, a podcast produced by the University of Pennsylvania Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.