David Wochner and Sandi Safro discuss the potential to use the mature, robust existing U.S. natural gas pipeline system to transport hydrogen, including current hurdles and possible paths forward.
U.S. Public Policy and Law Alert
By: David J. Raphael, Sandra E. Safro, Cliff L. Rothenstein, Dean Brower
On 19 January 2021, the eve of inauguration for the Biden Administration, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (D.C. Circuit) struck down the Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE Rule). Issued under the Trump Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the ACE Rule repealed and replaced the formerly enacted Clean Power Plan (CPP) and sought to establish a more narrowly defined framework for the regulation of power plant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a premise for the ACE Rule, the Trump EPA argued that Section 111 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), codified at 42 U.S.C. § 7411, contains clear and unambiguous language limiting the EPA’s emission reduction measures to improvements “at” and “to” existing GHG emissions sources. However, the D.C. Circuit held that the CAA does not require the EPA to confine its GHG regulation in this way and, in fact, that the Trump EPA’s interpretation under the ACE Rule constituted a “fundamental misconstruction” of the statute. The D.C. Circuit also found that the ACE Rule’s extended compliance deadline requirements were arbitrary and capricious insofar as they relaxed the schedules for federal action and state compliance under Section 7411(d). The D.C. Circuit’s decision clears the way for the Biden EPA to establish a new regulatory framework for power plant GHG emissions.
By: Buck B. Endemann, Daniel S. Cohen, Molly K. Barker, Olivia B. Mora, Natalie J. Reid, Matthew P. Clark
A biweekly update on clean technology applications, distributed energy resources, and other innovative technologies in the renewable energy and clean transport sector.
There is a lot of buzz around cleantech, distributed energy resources (DERs), microgrids, and other technological innovations in the renewable energy and clean transport industries. As these innovations develop, energy markets will undergo substantial changes to which consumer and industry participants alike will need to adapt and leverage. Every other week, K&L Gates’ The Energizer will highlight emerging issues or stories relating to the use of DERs, energy storage, emerging technologies, hydrogen, and other innovations driving the energy and clean transportation industries forward.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Tuesday
26 January 2021
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET
Please join K&L Gates for an open conversation with FERC Commissioner Neil Chatterjee, as we discuss energy market trends, infrastructure development, renewables, and the energy transition.
Commissioner Neil Chatterjee was nominated to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by President Donald J. Trump in May 2017 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in August 2017. He served as Chairman from August 2017 to December 2017. He was again named Chairman on October 24, 2018, and served in that role through November 5, 2020.
Since joining the Commission, Chatterjee has championed strategic initiatives reflecting his firm commitment to ensuring that FERC regulations and actions reflect changes in today’s energy landscape. Additionally, Chatterjee has made energy infrastructure a top priority.
Prior to his tenure at the Commission, Chatterjee served as an advisor to Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), where he played an integral role in the passage of major energy, highway and agriculture legislation. Chatterjee previously worked as a principal in government relations for the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and as an aide to House Republican Conference Chairwoman Deborah Pryce (R-OH). He began his career in Washington, D.C., as a staff member on the House Committee on Ways and Means.
A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Chatterjee is a graduate of St. Lawrence University and the University of Cincinnati, College of Law. Chatterjee resides with his wife and three children in Virginia.
The program will be moderated by K&L Gates’ Policy & Regulatory Practice Area Leader, David Wochner, and Power Practice Group Coordinator, Elizabeth Crouse.
Laurie Purpuro and David Wochner discuss with host Sandi Safro potential opportunities for development of a U.S. hydrogen economy under a Biden Administration.
By: Elizabeth C. Crouse, Aaron C. Meyer, and Mary Burke Baker
Amid the headline-grabbing events of 6 January 2021, the U.S. Department of Treasury released final regulations under Code Section 45Q. Code Section 45Q provides for a U.S. federal income tax credit at varying rates to taxpayers that participate in various aspects of the process of sequestering carbon oxide and disposing of it in secure geologic storage, use it as a tertiary injectant in a qualified enhanced oil or natural gas recovery project, or utilize it in certain processes.
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