The Pennsylvania (PA) Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision on August 20 in PPL Electric Utilities Corp. v. City of Lancaster, invalidating a municipality’s efforts to impose annual fees on utilities to occupy public rights-of-way and adopt inspection, supervision, and enforcement measures underpinning those fees.
Power & Pipes
FERC, CFTC, and State Energy Law Developments
New Jersey advanced several of the Murphy administration’s clean energy goals during June 2019. Over the past month, the state released a draft of its revised Energy Master Plan (EMP), approved the Ocean Wind offshore wind project proposed by Ørsted, and released a detailed analysis on energy storage development in New Jersey.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued three rules on June 19 that may give utilities new reasons to consider investing in certain plant modifications and reassessing the projected lifespans of their facilities. The rules also affect each state’s resource planning process and may contribute to changes in a state’s projected energy resource mixes.
Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. (Con Edison) and Orange and Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R) issued a draft joint Request for Proposals (RFP) on May 31 to competitively procure scheduling and dispatch rights from new energy storage projects.