Utilities Warn EPA Emissions Transport Rule May Punish Cleaner Companies

Environmentalists Prepare To Shift Hill Focus To Defense Of EPA GHG Rules

As Congress returns later this month, environmentalists and their allies are preparing to play defense against likely attempts by lawmakers to roll back EPA’s greenhouse gas (GHG) authority, in what some observers say might just be a practice run for a full-scale brawl on the issue next year -- if Republicans win control of one or more chambers in the November elections, as some predict.

Hydropower Sector Will Lobby For FERC Licensing Reforms In Energy Bill

Hydropower industry lobbyists plan to press lawmakers to support legislation that would direct FERC to find ways to remove regulatory barriers facing new hydropower projects through a stakeholder engagement process, an effort that is key to an over-arching industry goal of bringing thousands of new megawatts of renewable energy online, according to sources with the National Hydropower Association (NHA) representing a broad swath of stakeholders looking to develop new hydro resources.

Independents Seek Greater Competition In California Transmission System

Independent transmission developers are calling on the California ISO (CAISO) to open all types of transmission projects to competitive bids, including those which have traditionally been the purview of participating transmission owners (PTO), according to statements made at a recent FERC technical conference on the ISO’s revisions to is transmission tariff.

California Bill For Community Fund May Encourage Emission Auctions

In a move that could pressure California regulators to auction emission allowances under a cap-and-trade program, state lawmakers this week narrowly approved a bill to create a community benefits fund (CBF) using the revenues generated from emissions trading.

FERC Deadline Extension Reflects Transmission Reform Challenges

FERC has extended for 30 days the comment deadline on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) for transmission planning and cost allocations, a move that industry sources say reflects the complexities of the proposal which could dramatically change how the nation’s electricity transmission system is maintained and expanded.

RES Backers Seek Vote This Year Under Narrower Senate Energy Agenda

A broad coalition of renewable energy advocates will press its case when the Senate returns from the August recess that a renewable electricity standard (RES) is still passable this year after Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made it clear he does not have the votes for broader climate and energy legislation.

Ethanol Group Seeks Chamber Of Commerce Alliance To Push Major Plan

The ethanol trade group Growth Energy is seeking to gain the support of the business lobbying group the U.S. Chamber of Commerce (Chamber) as the ethanol association lobbies Congress to adopt a major proposal that would replace the current ethanol blender tax subsidy with incentives for building much-needed ethanol fuel infrastructure, according to an informed Growth Energy source.