The Energy & Natural Resources Blog
By Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie
On Monday, August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will sweep across the continental United States from Oregon to South Carolina. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the Earth and the sun, thereby obscuring the sun from Earth’s view and creating a shadow on Earth’s surface below. While a partial solar eclipse …
Continue reading “The Eclipse Will Test Utilities’ Solar Grid Integration”
Pursuant to the timelines set forth in Assembly Bill 405, NV Energy has recently filed new tariffs that affect Nevada’s net metering (NEM) and full requirement customers. Passed by the Nevada Legislature in June 2017 and supported by the rooftop solar industry, Assembly Bill 405 is the latest manifestation of Nevada’s policy to support rooftop …
The next time you are flying in or out of McCarran International Airport, Las Vegas, take a look at the valley that spreads just southeast of the city. Over there, just behind the mountain range that rims the edge of Las Vegas, lies El Dorado Solar Energy Zone – the epicenter of Nevada’s solar revolution …
A recent New York Times article (“Windmill and Solar Panels, or Nuclear Reactors”, NY Times, 11/14/16) highlights what could be an interesting dilemma for both developing and industrialized nations seeking to de-carbonize in tandem with the Paris Accord. The article describes the tension between the development of concentrated solar power (CSP) and the potential use …
On October 25, 2016, the federal district court in the Northern District of California approved the United States’ Amended Consent Decree to resolve claims against German automaker Volkswagen AG and related entities (VW) and to settle allegations of cheating emissions tests, deceiving customers, and excess nitrous oxides (NOx) emissions from VW and Audi diesel engine …
The Energy Choice Initiative, State Question No. 3, received close to three quarters of the votes cast on Tuesday. The question on the ballot read: Shall Article 1 of the Nevada Constitution be amended to require the Legislature to provide by law for the establishment of an open, competitive retail electric energy market that prohibits …
As interest in the Western Energy Imbalance Market (“EIM”) grows, regulators at the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) are facing concerns, once again, about carbon leakage from the state’s mandatory cap and trade program under AB 32. In the context of carbon markets, leakage describes the phenomenon in which a local (in this case, California) …
Continue reading “California’s Carbon Concern: Leakage from the Imbalance Market”
With the Clean Power Plan currently stayed in federal court, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper appears to be considering his own options to act unilaterally on climate change. In a draft executive order leaked this week, the Governor’s office recounts the challenges of clean air and climate change and directs Colorado’s state agencies as follows: Colorado …