US President Joseph Biden issued a directive to the secretary of defense on March 31, invoking the Defense Production Act (DPA) to spur the domestic production of critical minerals needed to produce large-capacity batteries for the automotive, emobility, and stationary electricity storage sectors.
Power & Pipes
FERC, CFTC, and State Energy Law Developments
The Federal Register recently published the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) notice of Request for Information (RFI) seeking public input on energy sector supply chains. The RFI requests that stakeholders provide comment on a wide variety of issues concerning supply chains of energy and related technologies.
US congressional Democrats released the latest version of H.R. 5376—better known as the Build Back Better Act—late last week, hoping to advance a $1.85 trillion spending package after months of deadlock.
Read this Insight prepared by our energy and environmental lawyers addressing the status of stricter tailpipe emissions regulations and anticipated widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs). Companies looking to leverage the Biden-Harris administration’s focus on clean transportation, as well as utilities whose grids are going to be impacted by EV development, should consider reading the Insight and checking out the Automotive Hour Webinar Series for 2021.
FERC issued an original license for a period of 25 years, pursuant to Part I of the Federal Power Act, to Oregon State University (OSU) to construct, operate, and maintain the proposed PacWave South Hydrokinetic Project No. 14616 (PacWave Project). The PacWave Project is a first-of-its-kind wave energy testing facility that will be sited approximately seven miles off the coast of the state of Oregon and consists of both offshore and onshore components.
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on February 24 to address possible vulnerabilities in the supply chains of critical national economic sectors, including the energy sector. The executive order directs various executive departments and agencies to complete, in coordination with private stakeholders, a series of assessments to evaluate the resiliency of supply chains in those key sectors. In his prepared remarks, President Biden explained that the order was prompted partly by concerns surrounding shortages in semiconductors, which are vital components of electronic devices used in everything from mobile phones to motor vehicles.
FERC issued a pair of orders terminating, or upholding the termination of, proceedings designed to evaluate the resiliency of the electric grid on February 18. Both proceedings arose from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) controversial proposal directing the Commission in 2017 to consider market reforms that would benefit certain baseload generation resources.
The US Department of Energy submitted a report to the president last month on “Economic and National Security Impacts under a Hydraulic Fracturing Ban.” This 80-page report analyzed the effects of a hypothetical United States ban on high-volume hydraulic fracturing technology used with any new or existing onshore wells starting in 2021 through 2025.
In May 2020, US President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 13920, banning the unrestricted import or use of certain categories of bulk-power system electric equipment from foreign adversaries, with a focus on Russian and Chinese equipment suppliers. The future of that regulation is now up in the air.
The US Congress adopted extensive federal energy policies in the Energy Act of 2020 (Energy Act), which President Donald Trump signed into law on December 27 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021.