Background: Missouri regulators had rejected an application that would grant eminent domain authority to the Grain Belt Express, in part, due to no service would be provided to person in Missouri.

Grain Belt Express over came regulators by:

• entering into an agreement to provide service to Missourians
• winning at the Missouri State Supreme Court which found that precedent requiring pre-approval of counties was not appropriate 

St Louis Dispatch | Missouri Supreme Court says state regulators erred in denial of Grain Belt Express transmission line

Utilities are said to be using Artificial Intelligence & Red Teaming.

Large  utilities like PG&E and Duke Energy have in-house cyber security whereas small rural providers, like Co-ops do these 2 things:

• outsource
• dual hat existing employees in control centers, which security experts say create a skills gap

CyberScoop | Electric utilities use red-teaming, AI to prepare for advanced threats

 Is the utility industry finally on it when it comes to cybersecurity? Or is it simply using techniques many other industries have deployed for years? Cyberscoop

Which entity detemrined the demand in electricity will rise 38% due to Electric Vehicles?National Renewable Energy Laboratory

What is the low estimate in electricty demand from EVs? 20% increase in electricty demand

What does this mean for utility growth?   Stagnant 1.65 utility growth will be replaced by  sustained absolute growth of 80 terawatt-hours per year.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory | Electrification Futures Study: Scenarios of Electric Technology Adoption and Power Consumption for the United States

The Massachusetts legislature passed  H.4739 (2018 | MA)  that will require utilities to:

• submit annual reports including “heat maps” that show areas of load and congestion on the grid
• solicit competitive bids for “non-wires alternatives” — such as storage or demand response — when their lines need upgrades

Mass Live | Grid resiliency and energy storage bill passes Massachusetts House

Massachusetts legislature passed H4739  (2018 | MA) that will:

• study the feasibility of mobile battery storage systems
• creates an Energy Storage Innovation Research Institute
• establishes a Center for Clean Transportation to conduct research and development
• creates new requirements for utilities to assess and improve their transmission and distribution systems

Mass Live | Grid resiliency and energy storage bill passes Massachusetts House

Why are straws an easy target for bans? Straws are considered nonessential 

Cities passing no plastic straw ordinances:

• Seattle
• Miami Beach
• Oakland

3 States that considered plastic straw bans in 2018:

• California, excludes take out
• Hawaii
• New York
• U.S. Virgin Islands

Companies vowing to end single use plastic:

• Virgin Companies 
• Alamo Draft House

Opponents to Plastic Straw Bans, from the Hawaii legislation:

•  Hawaii Food Industry Association
• Hawaii Restaurant Association
• Retail Merchants Association
• American Chemistry Council

Governing | Plastic Straw Bans Face Blowback

Forbes | Sir Richard Branson Literally Stands Up During Blockchain Summit To End Single-Use Plastics

St. Johns Source | Senators Hold Tree Protection and Plastic Straw Ban Bills in Committee

KVUE | ‘Straws suck’ | Alamo Drafthouse announces new eco-friendly initiatives

Washington Post | Seattle becomes first major U.S. city to ban straws

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) May infrastructure update in May:

• 2.1 GW of new gas capacity
  • total capcity of 2,455 MW
  • 85% share of new resources
• fossil fuels’ share of energy consumption in 2017 was 80%
• 6,646 MW of new gas year to May
  • 1,956 MW of wind capacity for the year
  • 1,921 MW of new solar for the year
  •  total installed capacity in 2018 sits at about 43.5%
    • coal (23%) total installed capacity
    • nuclear (9%)
    • hydro (8.5%)
    • wind, (7.7%)
    • oil (3.5%)
    • solar (2.8%)

Utility Dive | Despite renewables gains, gas leads new US generation 

State: Mssachusetts

How did the limits on eneergy use for pot growers arise? A recommendation of the Cannabis Control Commission’s Energy Working Group

How much energy does an indoor pot growing facility use? 8 to 10 more than office space

Some say 3% of all California’s energy use is dedicated to pot growing

What limits are placed on MA pot growers?

•  36 watts of power per square foot of canopy for growing over 10,000 square feet of pot
• 50 watts for smaller facilities

is there a loophole? yes, pot growers who use renewable power

Bostonomix | How Green Is Your Weed? Mass. Limits Energy Usage For Marijuana Growers

Texas needs battery storage for renewable energy because:

• renewable energy providers can’t rely on ratepayers to cover costs
• energy entrepreneurs need battery storage to ensure profit for their investment
• it can show that a deregualted, hands off approach, yields big energy gains

Dallas Morning News | A big battery in West Texas might help your electricity bill

Refreshing our recollection. informed:intel June 19, 2018:

The solar project: Vistra Energy’s 180 MW-AC Upton County Solar 2 solar power plant

The battery storage project: 

•  AC-coupled facility will be a 10 MW / 42 MWh lithium ion battery
• peak output of ‘nearly 200 MW
• will capture the power that is being clipped
• will solidy the capacity of the solar project

Tax Benefits: the battery proejct is eligible for the Investment Tax Credit and bonus depreciation

PV Magazine | Texas to get its largest battery, coupled with its largest solar power plant

Renewables can benefit from the flexibility in cryptocurrency operations by:

• Over- generation User “By running off electricity that would otherwise be curtailed because of low demand, crypto-mining could allow more clean energy to be profitably built on the grid”
• Texas is a leader in intermitancy Texas has been a leader in dealing with intermitancy that can power crytocurrency
  • Texas “competitive renewable electricity zones”  
    • average wind curtailment in Texas decreased from over 16% to less than 2%
    • wind generation more than doubled
  • private investment in energy storage
•  Flexible Demand flexible demand option for crypto currency that can quickly ramp up operations during times of overgeneration

Trib Talk | Market operations engineer, ERCOT | Cryptocurrencies could increase capacity for renewable energy

State Regulator: California Pulic Utilty Commission

Energy Company: SoCal Edison

Overall ratepayer funded capital sought: $760 Million 

EV Charging Station Roll Out: So Cal Edison would install 48,000 additional electric-vehicle charging ports over 4 years

State policy goal achieved by access to ratepayer funds: California’s stringent greenhouse gas reduction targets

How to achieve the load shift: 

•  Shift EV load to hours of the day when there is excess generation
• Driven by large- and small-scale solar projects
• Making the the load is less costly to serve
• Eventually reducing costs and rates

Greentech Media | SoCal Edison Seeks $760M to Build 48,000 New EV Charging Stations

What use of eminent domain caused the legislation:    A school disrict in Pennsylvania needed to expand and made an attempt to use eminent domain for open space land

What was the legislative response?  Pennsylvnaia Legislature responded by enacting, and the Governo r signing, HB 2468 (PA | 2018) 

What does HB 2468 (PA | 2018)  prohibits eminent domain for open space unless:

• a court grants permission because there is no other reasonable and prudent alternative
• its a utility exercizing eminent domain if:
  • the utility is underground
  • does not permantly impact th eopen spaces benefited by the conservation easement

State: Vermont

Grid Security Partners:

• Protect Our Power, an independent, nonprofit organization
• The Institute for Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School

Goal of Partnership: to make the grid more resistant to physical or cyber threats & to improve its ability to restore power quickly in the event of an attack

Outcome: offer regulatory and legislative proposals

Valley News | Vermont Law School Team to Research Electrical Grid Security 

State: California 

The grid regionalization bill: Assembly Bill 813 (CA | 2018) 

What Californias’s grid regionalization bill does: 

• broader electricity system for trading renewable energy
• source renewable energy from a wider geographical swath
• smoothing out the intermittency
•  potentially saving hundreds of millions of dollars

Opponents say:

• California loses control over the cleanliness of the energy mix
• Bolster out of state energy plant growth
• Moves energy jobs out of California to the new energy plants

Green Tech Media | California Tries Again With 3 Landmark Clean Energy Bills. This Time Things Are Different 

The companies : Blink Charging & Israeli smart city developer Ya’acobi Brothers Group

The benefits of EV Charging via city infrastructure:

• flexible charging to enable smart city infrastructure
• charging stations can be integrated with wif-fi, cloud networks, cameras

How do these EV chargers work? An energy management system allows optimization of the energy output

Utility Dive | Blink eyes significant EV charging expansion via smart streetlights 

 Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s annual electric vehicle outlook offers 3 insights on EV battery storage:

• Charging infrastructure is key to the prolifration of EVs
• EV Charging stations are going to be as crucial as parking spaces are today
• Charging Station proliferation will require coordination with city developers to add charging stations to new buildings, apartments and residences

Financial Review  |  EV charging points to become ‘as important as a parking spot is today’

New York enacted Assembly Bill 10474 (NY | 2018) which re-defines Value of Distributed Energy Resources by:

• fully and accurately account for the energy and  capacity value  of  the electricity generated

• include long-term value of public benefits provided by such resource, including but not limited to, grid security and resilience, climate security, reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and other air and water pollutants, and  reduced  exposure  to  fuel  price  volatility,  environmental justice attributes, and avoided societal and ratepayer costs from the reduction of energy  bills for low-income customers

• the definition must also be predictale and simple

Energy Manager Today | New York Assembly Passes Bill To Establish New Value For Solar Energy

Moody’s lowered its outlook on the U.S. regulated utility sector.

The new outlook is negative, a downward move from the formerly stable outlook. 

3 reasons why the increased financial risk outlook:

• lower cash flow 
• holding company leverage for regulated utilities
• Lower corporate taxes will result in lower cash flows for utilities and higher debt ratios

Utility Dive | Moody’s goes negative on regulated utilities for first time, citing tax law impacts

The solar project: Vistra Energy’s 180 MW-AC Upton County Solar 2 solar power plant

The battery storage project: 

•  AC-coupled facility will be a 10 MW / 42 MWh lithium ion battery
• peak output of ‘nearly 200 MW
• will capture the power that is being clipped
• will solidy the capacity of the solar project

Tax Benefits: the battery proejct is eligible for the Investment Tax Credit and bonus depreciation

PV Magazine | Texas to get its largest battery, coupled with its largest solar power plant

According to CBO it is $86 million from 2019 to 2023. 

How does the $86 million break down?

• 90%ish to pilot programs—to develop the physical infrastructure necessary to support pilot projects to test security-related technology (includes existing budgetary esimates for cyber 
• 10% ish to administrative regulatory costs, including databases and information-sharing systems

CBO | H.R. 5175 Pipeline and LNG Facility Cybersecurity Preparedness Act

Department of Energy’s Senior Cyersecurity Advisor rolls out a 3 Point approach to data security:

• Cybersecurity
• Energy Security
• Emergency Response (CESER)

FCW | How Energy’s new cyber shop will work 

State: Ohio

Orphan Well Legislation: HB 225 (2018 | OH)

Why did Ohio pass HB 225? Concerns that only 14% of the  state’s Oil and Gas Well Fund were being used for plugging orphan wells

What will H 225 require? 30% of the state’s Oil and Gas Well Fund to be spent on plugging orphan wells

Farm and Dairy | Ohio Legislature approves orphan well plugging bill

Where: Canada’s Quebec Province

Background: The state owned hydro power company offers cheap power and has drawn crypto mining firms to the region

The power request from crypto miners: 17,000 megawatts

The power usage suggested by regulators: 500 megawatts

What are the new regualtory rules looking like? How the state hyrdo power wants rules to “maximize the energy producer’s revenue.”

Coin Desk | Quebec Halts Crypto Mining Approvals Pending New Restrictions 

City: London

London’s EV Infrastructure Taskforce:

• 16 members, including:
  • British Electrotechnical and Allied Manufacturers Association (BEAMA)
  • British Retail Consortium
  • Cross River Partnership
  • Energy UK
  • Federation of Small Businesses
  • Freight Transport Association
  • London Councils
  • London First
  • Office for Low Emission Vehicles
  • Ofgem
  • RAC Foundation
  • Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
  • Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)
  • Shell UK
  • SSE Enterprise
  • UK Power Networks
• Goal:  install vital rapid charging points &  tackling London’s air pollution problem
• Public-private partnership for final rollout
• Recommendations should benefit:
  • businesses
  • taxi drivers
  • encourage a switch to electric vehicles (EV)

Mayor of London | Mayor launches new taskforce to expand electric vehicle infrastructure

The Baker Institute at Rice author offers 3 reasons Texas has th emost to gain from Mexico’s energy deregulation:

• Texas’ location
• Texas’ long standing energy leadership
• Exports of natural gas have skyrocketed from Texas to Mexico

Houston Chronicle | Texas benefits most in a collaborative U.S.-Mexico relationship. [Opinion]

What election included power generation debt & renewable propositions? San Francisco’s June 5th election

Did both propositions for energy pass? YES

What did the San Francisco Generation Proposition do? Expanded the city’s bond authority from  issuing bonds to pay for water and sewer upgrades to also include power generation

What did the San Francisco Renewables Proposition do?Expanded the city’s bond authority from  issuing bonds to pay for water and sewer upgrades to also include renewable power investments

San Francisco Chronicle | San Francisco passes ban on flavored tobacco; education parcel tax wins

State: North Carolina

Protestors that were arrested were with: Poor People’s Campaign

What energy issues do the Poor People’s Campaign support?

• end to fracking
• 100% reliance on renewable energy

How long have demonstrations continued? Weekly since May 14th

13 NewsNow | More than a dozen arrested inside North Carolina legislature. 

Plastic straws are the new hot trend for cities and countries to ban. In many states, this means the state Legislatures will stop the cities from banning plastic items.

Here’s how fast it is moving….

The cities that have banned plastic straws:

• New York City, Hawaii, and California have pending straw ban legislation.
• California: Alameda, Carmel, San Luis Obispo, Davis, Malibu, Manhattan Beach, Oakland, Richmond, and Berkeley
• Washington: Seattle and Edmonds
• New Jersey: Monmouth Beach
• Florida: Miami Beach and Fort Myers
• Vancouver, BC
• Scotland
• Taiwan
• Prime Minister Theresa May announced a Britain-wide ban on the sale of plastic straws, stirrers, and plastic cotton swabs

The businesses that banned with plastic straws:

• Alaska Airlines
• Bon Appétit in all 1,000 of its cafes across 33 states, including locations like AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Getty Museum, Vassar College, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of Portland in Oregon
• Queen Elizabeth II banned plastic straws and bottles from all royal estates,  cafes, and gift shops
• Waitrose, London City Airport, McDonalds UK, and Costa Coffee
• Ryanair aims to be “plastic free” by 2023
• Marriott is implementing a straw ban at all 60 UK properties

Fast Company | Here are the U.S. cities that have banned plastic straws so far

State: Pennsylvania

The legislation: Republican authored SB 1189 (2018 | PA)

How are landowners compensated for a fracking ban?

• A fracking ban imposed Delaware River Basin Commission
• would allow landowners to receive compensation 
• by defining the ban as a taking of property”
• triggering just compensation

The new report:  In response to Executive Order 13800

Report prepared by: Department of Energy and Department of Homeland Security

7 gaps in grid security:

• lack of clarity around the roles of specific organizations in responding to prospective cyber incidents
•  electric sector’s cyber workforce shortfalls
• a lack of effort to address supply chain vulnerabilities specific to the electric sector
•  lackluster information sharing between private industry and the federal government
• clear rules and responsibilities under cyber response frameworks
• cybersecurity integration into state energy assurance planning
• resources for cybersecurity preparedness

The Hill | Federal assessment finds ‘gaps’ in preparation for electric grid attacks

Utility Dive | DOE cybersecurity report reveals 7 ‘gaps’ in power sector defense capabilities

Its like when Harry met Sally, except for Energy Storage and Railways: 

First of its kind partnership between railways and energy storage:  Russian Railways 85.5 thousand kilometers and renewable energy company, Enel Group.

The partnership goal: develop a “low cost strategy for improving system operations without getting into more expensive grid upgrades”

Clean Technica | A New Energy Storage Solution For A Massive Railway System

• Seattle City Light installs first city-owned electric vehicle fast-charging stations
•  California utilities offer $10K rebate on new BMW electric vehicle. with free EV charging
• Pennsylvania’s HB 1446 (2018)  EV Charging Station framework
• California Governor’s Executive Order $2.5 billion in revenues directed to EV charger deployment
•   SB 145 (2017 | NV) Nevada regulators support utility owned EV charging stations
• Colorado’s HB18-1270 (CO |2018)  requires regulators to establish rules for investor-owned electric utilities to procure energy storage systems 
• Ohio is looking at a plan to rollout 350 EV charging stations Less than $1 fee on residential customers

• Montana: Montana’s HB 219 (2017 | MT)  wants supporting data for the solar value
•  California regulators required all new homes, after 2020, to include solar panels
• In Ohio town, energy ‘locavores’ drive demand for community solar
•  Solar customers don’t have to pay some taxes, Arizona Supreme Court rules
• SB 966 in Virginia offers electric companies the ability to retain more profit in exchange for investment in renewables, including solar
• Utah lawmakers approve rooftop solar compromise bill SB141

Company: NET Power

The Clean Power Source:  “a prototype power plant that uses a stream of pure carbon dioxide — not air — to drive a turbine”

The Texas facility & its future power production:

• March 2016 construction began on a 25-megawatt plant
• $140 million in capital raised for the project
• 2017 construction completed
• 2018: facility is  running a battery of tests on the combustor that powers the plant
  • cpomuster built by Toshiba
• late 2018: NET Power will hook up the turbine and begin generating electricity

International Journal of Science | Innovative zero-emissions power plant begins battery of tests

Where: Pennsylvania

Who: The Pennsylvania Conservative Energy Forum

What will be the position of the Pennsylvania Conservative Energy Forum? 

• provide a conservative voice in the state energy policy debate
• supporting common-sense, all-of-the-above energy solutions
• solutions that are good for the economy, grid and national security and the conservation of our state’s natural resources

Why? Conservatives “have led our country’s efforts to protect and preserve our natural resources”

Members of the forum’s leadership council:

• Chad Forcey, executive director, PENNCEF
• John Easoz, president of Solar PV Consulting and CEO of Direct Gain Consulting, LLC
• Tom Stevenson, partner, Green Roads Solar Energy & Iceburgh Associates
• Rev. Mitch Hescox, president & CEO, the Evangelical Environmental Network
• Ron Gdovic, president & CEO, WINDSTAX Inc
• Brian Kennedy, SVP for Operations and Government Affairs, Pittsburgh Technology Council
• David Jason, partner, Green Roads Solar Energy & Iceburgh Associates
• Mark DeSantis, CEO, RoadBotics, and
• Jim Seif, consultant and board member of BioChem Technology Inc.

Solar Power World | Pennsylvania conservatives launch organization for diverse energy policy

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy  Executive Order 28  requires revision of the Energy Master Plan, including:

• 100% clean energy by 2050
• 30 days for the Energy Master Plan Committee to convene
• 7 State Agencies will be represented on the Energy Master Plan Committee
• Create a comprehensive blueprint
• Specific targets for the next 10 years
• Must include:
  • offshore wind development goals (Executive ORder #8 | NJ | 2018)

  • community solar projects

New Jersey Governor signed the bill.

S2313 (2018 | NJ)  will:

• create a tariff imposed at a rate of $0.004 per kilowatt hour on retail distribution customers
• increase sales and use tax revenue by up to $20.0 million
• maintain nuclear power’s current 40% contribution to the state’s electrical needs in perpetuity

Utility Dive | New Jersey Gov. Murphy signs bills creating zero emission credits for nuclear

To address driver retention, LYft is dedicating $100M to build ride share driver hubs.

How do ride share hubs and EV fit together? 

• hubs will serve as infrastructure for EV charging in the future
• hubs will also serve as infrastructure for a fleet of autonomous vehicles in the future

Curbed | Lyft is spending $100M on new hubs for drivers

• Distributed grids that include cybersecurity from the outset of planning
• Grid Hardening to protect transmission from disaster by Mother Nature or a Mother of a Squirrel
• Prioiritizing Cyber Security as worker safety is prioritized
• Risk Mitigation plan for the most plausible event
• Grid Modernization led by California, Illinois & Texas
• Broadening the Utility Tent during an event by reaching out to vendors to secure issues

Michigan’s revised water contamination rules, expected to be finalized, will cost:

• $2.5 billion over decades
• costs to be paid by water customers

What will the new Michigan water contamination rules do?

• replacement of all 500,000 lead service pipes in Michigan despite
• “action level” for lead would drop from 15 parts per billion, the federal limit, to 12 ppb in 2025
  • That’s up from the 1st rules draft of 10 ppb
• By 2040 replacement of underground lead service lines connecting water mains to houses and other buildings
  • exception: construction plan requires more time
• prohibit the partial replacement of lead service pipes
  • exception: emergency repair
• require preliminary and final inventories of the lines and other components of a water supply by 2020 and 2025

What opposition is there?

• opposition from municipalities and utilities concerning replacement of lead pipes
• opposition concerning property rights violations while fixing lines to a privately owned uilding

Detroit News | Mich. close to finalizing stricter lead rules for water

• Oil and gas company wealth allows them to buy a leadership role in renewables
• Oil and gas geology experts can lead with the high copper requirements for EV manufacturing
• Oil ans gas has the momentum in their favor

The report details:  “Enter the Volt-Age: Electric vehicle disruption of the oil and gas industry”

Prepared by: Deloitte

Prepared for: Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association conference

SBS News | A new report by Deloitte suggests oil and gas companies are among the least prepared for the electric car revolution.

Where is this happening? Oklahoma

What consumer protections does the OKlahoma State Attorney General want from a wind power project?

• The Company must commit to a cost cap on the facility 
• The Company must commit to a cost cap on operating & maintaining
• The Company must guarantee that the ratepayers will receive 100% of Federal Production Tax Credits
• A minimum net average capacity factor at the western us-bar minimum of 52.4% for 25 years
• A hold harmless agreement
• 100% of incremental off system energy sales margins will flow to ratepayers
• No cost recovery unless the company moves forward with commercial operation

Oklahoma Attorney General Filing 

Enid News & Eagle | Okla. AG asks for customer protection guarantees if Wind Catcher energy plan approved

The lawsuit: post-Harvey lawsuit against San Jacinto River Authority

Why? constituents with homes that were flooded 

Southeast Texas Record | River authority’s post-Harvey actions unleash flood of litigation

Colorado’s SB18-230 (2018 | CO)  is awaiting signature by the Govenror.

The bill will:

• adds 60 day notification mineral owners whose oil and gas are developed without their consent
• add liability when oil and gas are developed without owner consent
• nonconsenting mineral owners are immune from liability for costs related to any spills, damage or injury from the drilling on the unit

How does forced pooling and eminent domain analogy work?

• Forced pooling is like ” the use of eminent domain by governments to acquire easements for roads that otherwise might not be able to be built.” according to a bill sponsor
   

Bill supporters:

• oil and gas industry
• homeowners groups
• Colorado Municipal League
• state Department of Natural Resources

Daily Sentinel | Drilling forced-pooling bill awaits guv’s pen

Which state’s regualtors said, yes, utilities can own EV charging stations? Nevada 

On which program did NV  regulators rely?  Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration Program

Where can I find the legislation that created the Electic Vehicle Infrastructure Demonstration Project?   SB 145 (2017 | NV)

Are the EV charging stations included in the rate base? YES

Nevada Independent | Regulators approve rules for electric vehicle charging, despite criticism from consumer advocate. 

Where it is housed: at the University of Nevada, Reno’s Cybersecurity Center

How it helps the workforce: “training the next-generation of cybersecurity workforce and equipping them with knowledge of the technical, political, social and human factors needed to understand the mission-critical objectives of cybersecurity.”

The Center’s 3 prong approach: education, research, and outreach to Nevada businesses and agencies

Nevada Today | Cybersecurity Center works to protect Nevada industry, individuals from cyber threats

Connecticut legislature this week passed SB 9 (2018 | CT) that:

• implements the state’s energy plan, 2018 Comprehensive Energy Strategy
• increases the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) to 40%
• creates a statewide shared clean energy program for income-challenged customers
• successor programs for commercial, industrial and residential efforts to provide sustainable growth of renewables
• replaces net metering with buy-all-sell-all incentive
  • the buy all sell all incentive will have 2 options with rates set by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority

How did people feel about the bill?

• “everyone was unhappy”
• environmental advocacy community & the state’s solar industry were split

Connecticut Mirror | After near derailment, energy bill heads to governor as fence-mending begins

In a week, where California regulators required all new homes, after 2020, to include solar panels, a comparison of solar studies reveals:

• Volume. In 2017, 28 valuation studies were proposed, pending or decided in 21 states and DC
• Disparity. 88% difference in these 2 studies:
  • ​March 29 study | Northwestern Energy in Montana shows BTM solar’s levelized 25-year value to be between $0.035/kWh and $0.046/kWh
  • April 10 draft study | Maryland’s Public Service Commission shows BTM solar’s 2019 value in the state’s investor-owned utility (IOU) territories to be between about $0.31/kWh and about $0.41/kWh
• Flaws. According to Former Texas utilities commissioner and Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Karl Rabago
  • “Montana study fails to accurately credit solar for its benefits
  • Maryland study is more accurate on solar’s costs and benefits, but fails to treat solar as a long-term generation resource”
• Legislative response. Montana’s HB 219 (2017 | MT)  wants supporting data for the solar value

Utility Dive | How two value-of-solar studies add up to no clear value of solar. 

What should groundwater regulations do?

• groundwater regulations should be based on loss in aquifer storage and not on artesian pressure
• if taking water from an aquifer, it’s not just about recharge, the correct analysis is the “size of the aquifer’s storage relative to the rate of recharge”
• think of water, like oil and gas, and mineral resources are considered

Texas A&M University | The Mosbacher Institute | Texas Groundwater: Dispelling Some Common Misconceptions

State: New York

What partnership is behind the EV on highways rollout in New York? Governor + New York State Thruway Authority + New York Power Authority

High Speed EV Charging Plan in New York:

• $4.2 million expansion plan
• along the New York State Thruway
• it’s part of Gov enror Cuomo’s Charge NY 2.0 EV initiative
• 2 years
• Goal is 10,000 charging stations by 2021
• It is an expansion of a trial program that brought fast chargers to four Mid-Hudson Valley service areas

NextGen Transportation News | New York Announces $4.2M EV Charging Expansion

The Utility: Chelan County Power Utility District (PUD) of north-central Washington

The moratorium: Prohibits utility service for crypto currency mining whcih impacts 2 types of crypto currency miners:

• unauthorized miners
• high-density load service applicants 

The repercussions of the moratorium: The utility has:

• heightened security measures
•  “bulletproof panels and security cameras at PUD headquarters”

Bitcoin.com | Washington Utility Increases Security Amid Crypto Mining Moratorium

The Department of Energy announced $19 million in research funding for EV research that:

• Improves rapid charging of EV batteries
• The specification goals:
  • Lower the charge times to 15 minutes or less
  • Deadline is by 2028
  • Increasing charging power levels up to 400 kW
  • Reduce battery pack costs to under $100/kWh
  • Increase range to over 300 miles

Utility Dive | 15 minute charge for a 300 mile range? DOE moves to boost EVs 

A California Administrative LAw Judge determined that a proposed pipeline was not shown to be necessary because:

• the pipeline “cannot be justified on the basis of meeting a relatively small deficit of 25 MMcfd”
• the pipeline did not show that it will be “providing overall benefits to ratepayers. “

The administrative law process continues…

Utility Dive | Another blow for California gas — judge rejects proposed pipeline

State: Michigan

The 4 bill package will:

• Allow people/groups to ecreate energy cooperatives to share up-front costs & receive a monthly credit on their energy bill
• increase the net metering cap above the current 1%
• allow renewable energy producers create a microgrid that could operate indepdently in a grid failure
• Create a “fair value pricing” framework for large & small renewable customers

Supporters of the Energy Freedom Bills say:

• free people from burdensome & unnecessary restrictions and costs
• utilities shouldn’t be opposed to competition
• it will help the grid in high load times
• microgrids are crucial to disater recovery

Detroit News | Lawmakers want to relax rules on renewable energy

Where is this happening? Decorah, Iowa

Why did Decorah vote on creating a municipal power utility? 

• “persistent refusal to support efforts to develop renewable generation in town.”
• a report sais it could save $5 million annually

What did the voter action spark for the retail service provider for Decorah? it has a pending permit to increase its wind power and add 1 GW of new renewable resources

Energy news Network | Iowa town split on municipal utility vote; too close to call late Tuesday

Department of Energy announced $30 million for energy storage research that will:

• sustain long duration energy storage
• provide power to the electric grid for durations of 10 hours up to approximately 100 hours
• the program name: Duration Addition to electricitY Storage
• its about moving away from litium ion, such as:pumped storage hydro storage
• this MIT paper backs up the need for alternative energy storage: paper by MIT’s Energy Initiative

Utility Dive | 100-Hour storage? DOE launches $30M program to explore new technologies 

What is a Smart Grid for Water?

• It is a system. a complete infrastructure
• 3 Step technology. smart metering + analytical software platform +customer service and billing process
• Economics. “leverages economies of scale across traditionally disparate municipal operations”

What does that mean?

• technology to track water use and water loss
• technology to find real water leaks and to find data leaks 

What does it mean for utilities?

• “found revenue”
• better data
• more consistent revenue
• better customer service

Fathom White Paper | THE SMART GRID FOR WATER:TURNING NON-REVENUE WATER INTO FOUND REVENUE WATER

State: New York

The New York Public Service Commission​ new proceeding goal: dedication to accelerating electric utility engagement in transportation electrification

The statement from the New York Public Service Commission: “to remove inappropriate obstacles to adoption and ensure critical [electric vehicle supply equipment] and infrastructure is in place to support the state’s Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) targets.” 

Supporters of the new EV process in NY:

• 40 automakers
• bus manufacturers
• electric vehicle (EV) charging-service providers
•  labor groups
• business associations
• environmental justice organizations
• environmental groups

New York Charges Ahead with New EV Initiative

State: Colorado

The bill: Colorado’s HB18-1270 (CO |2018) 

What will HB 18-1270 do?

• requires regulators to establish rules for investor-owned electric utilities to procure energy storage systems
• requires rules to be based on:
  • an analysis of costs and benefits
  • grid reliability
  • reduction in the need for additional peak generation or transmission capacity
  • restricting energy storage size to 15 MW

Utility Dive | Colorado Senate approves second storage bill, waits on House. 

The regulatory body: FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (FERC)

The FERC action addressing the Internet of Things (IoT) for utilities: Revised Critical Infrastructure Protection Reliability Standard CIP-003-7 – Cyber Security – Security Management Controls

How far do the new data data security rules drill down to utility work? To laptops and USB drives used 

Why? In 2009, a Ukrainian utility was compromised by a hack that began from a USB drive and attacked a “air gapped” (unconnected system)

What are 2 impacts to utilities? 

• technicians traveling to remote facilities across the U.S. to check security controls may face greater logistical challenges
• require additional cybersecurity compliance for less-critical substations and generators.

CyberScoop | Regulators tightening controls on devices connecting to utility company networks

Hawaii’s SB 2939 (HI | 2018), signed by the Governor,  will:

• break the link between utility revenues and capital investments for regulatory purposes
• establish the new business model for utilities that will focus on 
  • basing revenues on metrics like customer satisfaction, renewable energy integration and data sharing
• have the support of Hawaii’s sole investor-owned utility

What 6 regulatory policy considerations will  the state public utility commission focus on for ratemaking and for designing new incentives and penalties? 

• Customer affordability

• Electricity reliability

• Customer engagement and satisfaction, including “options for managing electricity costs”

• Access to system information, including “system planning data and aggregated customer energy use data and individual access to granular information about an individual customer’s own energy use data”

• Rapid interconnection of renewables and distributed resources

• Timely execution of competitive procurement and interconnection of third-party resources

Utility Dive | Hawaii Gov. Ige signs law mandating performance-based utility regulation

Ohio is looking at a plan to rollout 350 EV charging stations. What you need to know:

• 375 proposed EV stations under a plan to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio from AEP
  • 1/2 at employers
  • 60 stations are for multifamily housing
  • 90 public stations
• Less than $1 fee on residential customers. AEP Ohio’s $21.1 million Smart City rider will be split between funding EV stations & demonstration projects for digitally connected smart electric grids
• Starting a Trend. This plan is the first approved rebate for EV charging in the Midwest

Columbus Business First | EV charging stations in Ohio could nearly double under PUCO-approved AEP plan 

The Background to the Opinion Request: Chair, House Committee on Environmental Regulation posed the question whether  Texas Commission on Environmental Quality may consider a recommendation from ·a local government to deny a permit for a facility because the facility is incompatible with the local government’s zoning or land use ordinances

What permit triggered the request? A concrete crushing plant in Fort Worth

Who won? The State

Why?  TCEQ obligation to consider a city’s ordinances or land use is only “to the extent that the recommendation concerns the statutory and administrative requirements ofthe Texas Clean Air Act.”

Let’s translate the WHY to What a Bill would look like that Reverses the Outcome, Potential solutions:

• Amend the “shall” in §§ 382.05198(a) Health and Safety Code 
• Amend §§ 382.112 Health and Safety Code here: “consider a local government’s recommendation only to the extent that the recommendation concerns the statutory and administrative requirements ofthe Act”
• Factor in consistency with Health and Safety Code 382.05195 & 382.05198 that the Opinionalso relies on

Are there additional complications? Yes, The City ofMarble Falls v. Tex. Comm ‘non Envtl. Quality, No. D-l-GN-18-000020 (261 st Dist. Ct., Travis Cty., Tex. Jan. 2, 2018) which kept the Attroney General Opinion from discussing how much weight the city should be given in the permitting process which is part of Health and Safety Code 382.112.

Texas Attorney General Opinion KP-0190

The Company that got FAA approval for drone use: Xcel Energy

Is Xcel Energy the 1st company to get FAA approval for drone use beyond line of sight? yes

Are drones a cost savings? Yes, drones cost $200 and $300 per mile while current helicopter inspections cost $1,200 to $1,600 per mile

Any extra points XCEL makes with its drone use? Yes, it will use licensed pilots and advanced command-and-control technology to ensure safe operations

Business Wire | Xcel Energy Announces a New Milestone for Drone Technology

State: Michigan

Arguments supporting Michigan’s Public Utility Regulators Action:

• residential distributed generation billing mechanism will provide that energy purchased by a customer will be bought at the full retail rate
• Excess energy will be credited at the utility’s avoided cost in the next billing period and will vary by utility
•  

Opposition: 

• Legisaltors say that the Regulator went beyond its authority in a 2016 bill that provided for a net metering study
• Oppoinents say the new tariffs say it will create business uncertainty
• Opponents say It takes control of energy use away from farmers and residential customers
• Opponents say the policy is out of step with neighboring states
• Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council calls the new rules “complicated, unfair and costly to the industry.”

Energy News | Michigan to replace net metering program with avoided-cost tariff

South Carolina Governor signed S1101 (2018) that extends the ban on eminent domain for private or publicly traded pipeline companies.

The ban on eminent domain was set to expire and has been extended to November 30, 2020.

Berkeley Independent | Lawmakers continue work on electric power reform

State: Ohio

The new solar trend: Solar locavores

What is a solar locavore?  An energy customer who prefers community sourced solar to power the cooking of thier locally sourced vegetables

Local Solar by the Numbers in Ohio:

• 2014 Ohio launches SOPEC is a community choice aggregation (CCA) program
• 350 participating communitites
• the largest is Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council with 200 members
• 0.2 cents per kWh.   Athens City Council approved the idea of adding a carbon fee of 0.2 cents per kWh to the electric bills of Athens residents in the SOPEC aggregation program
  • Voters have to approve the fee

Energy News | In Ohio town, energy ‘locavores’ drive demand for community solar

State: Pennsylvania

The EV Bill: Pennsylvania’s HB 1446 (2018)

The EV Charging Station framework proposed by HB1446:

• Governor must set EV charging station rollout based at 50% above 2030 estimates
• the framework must set statewide goals
• the framework must also establish separate regional goals
  • developed by stakeholders including agencies, municipalities & electric distribution companies

The response by an EV charging station company:

• before HB 1446, “the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission should set rules of the road and evaluate how rate payer funds should be used by utilities in support of EV infrastructure”
• “utilities must work with private businesses in the EV industry” to “leverage matching payments when ratepayer dollars are spent.”
• “Consumers should have the ability to choose things like charging station type, manufacturer and network services.”

PennLive | Lawmakers need to level the playing field for Pa’s electric-driving future | Opinion

Nebraska’s LB 1008 prohibits disclosure,under open records laws, of  public power records that:

Texas Attorney General Opinion Request: RQ-0217-KP

Requestor: Tracy O. King

The impetus for the opinion request: The Texas Supreme Court ruling in Guitar Holding Co., L.P. v. Hudspeth County Underground Water Conservation District that Chairman King believes “prohibits groundwater conservation districts from amending historic or existing use permits to authorize a different use while retaining the historic use protections”

The 2 questions the Attorney General Office shall answer:  

Texas Attorney General Opinion Request: RQ-0218-KP

Opinion requestor: Lyle Larson

What’s the background that sparked the opinion request?

• 2017 the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District (SWTCGCD)(“District”) was created
• Travis County Commissioners Court approved a loan to the District to pay for the District’s pro-rata share of the May 2018 election
• Citing costs of the loan to Travis County related to the May 5, 2018 election, the initial-appointed temporary directors canceled the May 5, 2018 election of initial directors and confirmation ofthe district.
• The Legislature did not know of the election cost
• There has been no initial election cost imposed on other districts

The 4 questions the Attorney General Office shall opine:

• “What legal authorities allow the initial-appointed temporary directors of the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District (SWTCGCD)(“District”) to cancel the Moy 2018 election of permanent directors and voterconfirmation ofthe District?
• “Does the affirmative action ofthe initial-appointed temporary directors to cancel the May 2018 election ofpermanent directors and voter confirmation ofthe District either contemporaneously or subsequently terminate all authorities of the initial-appointed temporary directors?
• “May an official authorized to appoint a temporary director, who fulfllled such appointment, withdraw their appointment; the result of withdrawing an appointment nullifying the appointee as a temporary director to the Southwestern Travis County Groundwater Conservation District (SWTCGCD)?
• “What legal authoritl.”es do the initial-appointed temporary directors have?”

Colorado Governor has signed HB18-1098 that will keep unexpended environmental clean up funds with the state agency and outside of general revenue fund.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission could use unexpended funds for:

• properly capping “orphan wells”
•  funds stay for future uncertainties to protect the safety of Coloradoans

Longmont Times Call | Colorado Legislature approves 1 oil, gas bill; others die or face probable deaths

Louisiana Legislature is considering HB 727 (2018) that will:

• penalize trespassers on land containing pipelines and the equipment and structures
• penalize trespassers with up to 5 years in jail
• creates a new crime of critical damage to critical infrastructure
  • with up to 15 years jail time
  • a convicted person can also be charged the cost of prosecution

The Advocate | Environmentalists see proposed Louisiana law to protect pipelines and penalize protesters as overreach

Carlos Rubinstein writes 3 reasons P3s are the solution to Texas water infrastructure needs because:

• P3s are a solution, even if P3s arent THE solution. P3s frees up bonding capacity and scarce public capital resources
• P3s do not require the permanent divestiture of public assets
• “P3s yield improved risk management, speedier project completion schedules and better-disciplined O&M practices backed by performance guarantees”

Texas needs new thinking on water infrastructure

The City: Ann Arbor, Michigan

What 4 steps did Ann Arbor Michigan do to drain storm water?

•  Ann Arbor partnered with the University of Michigan
• Coordinated development of Open Storm
• Open Storm is a package of open-source sensors, hardware and algorithms to measure and control storm water

How does this smart city system work? 

•  “sensor nodes deployed by Ann Arbor collect data on water flow and quality and transmit it via a cellular network to provide an instant snapshot of water conditions”
• student volunteers installed valves to open and close after a storm on city storm water systems
• Operators can choose to hold the water in basin for treatment or release the water based on the data

State Tech | Smart Cities Connect 2018: How Ann Arbor (Mich.) Drained Stormy Waters Smartly

The new study is from: Smart Electric Power Alliance

What 3 reasons does the Smart Electric Power Alliance give for utiltiies being unprepared for Evs?

• 75% of utilities were inthe early development or early planning stages for EV
  • The 75% account for service to 70% of the US
• Utilities are reacting to EV rollout in a way that’s very similar to utility reaction to the growth of distributed solar
• Its predicted that EV energy use will grow exponentially
  • “EV energy use could rise from a few terawatt-hours a year in 2017 to at 118TWh and as high as 733TWh by 2030.”

Pacific Business Journal | Electric utility companies largely unprepared for anticipated EV boom, report says

Atlanta’s city services recently experienced a ransomware attack, the responses include:

• Calls for more transparency for utilities about their cybersecurity to “keep consumers aware of the threats and their frequency”
• Because electricity is a security issue, the market cannot resolve the issue & the government must act
• FERC is beefing up mandatory reporting requirements

Eagle Tribune Opinion | Utilities should be more transparent about cybersecurity

Newbery Port NEws | Utilities should be more transparent about cybersecurity

What issue are legal property rights centers looking at?  is there a public good, for eminent domain purposes,  when the public that benefits from the exported good is Europe or China?

What does this have to do with eminent domain? Pipelines, such as those that feed a LNG Export Center, are often uilt with the use of the power of eminent domain.

To exercize eminent domain constitutionally there must be a public use/public purpose for the land

How are property rights legal exeperts looking to intervene in exported oil and gas?   intervening in existing cases to aid property owners fighting eminent domain actions

Is this impacting oil and gas industry? Yes, a Texas pipeline that seeks to serve deregulated Mexican market, included a spur to a small Texas town that had never had natural gas service before to avoid the public purpose issue before the company utilized eminent domain

Houston Chronicle | Are pipeline land takings in the public interest if oil, gas headed overseas?

State: Maryland

Agency considering the 24,000 EV charging station proposal: Public Services Commission

The Proposal  is led by: utilities

What does the coalition of support look like for the utilities?

• EV manufacturers
• Business groups
• Environmentalists

The investment: $104 Million for 24,000 residential, workplace and public charging stations

The Baltimore Sun | Maryland’s utilities propose spending $104 million on statewide electric-vehicle charging network

• Regional Transmission Organizations and Independent System Operators filings are significant and will require more time to analyze
• Grid resilience is a critical issue for the American people, the economy & national security
• FERC wants a robust record with as much comment as possible

Electric Light & Power | FERC extends comment deadline on grid resiliency issues 

According to a new report from the California Energy Commission by 2025, EV chargers will:

• 1 GW of peak demand
• Increase in demand  in workplace charging demand during weekday mornings
• Steep Increase in evening power demand due to residential charging

How will this be addressed in California Governor’s Executive Order?

• $2.5 billion in revenues directed to EV charger deployment. 

• Millions of Texas utility customers  pay rates as if their utility were being taxed at the old 35% rate
• Similart actions were taken in 1987 after President Reagan’s tax cuts
• Texas has the 5th highest utility rates in the country and that impacts the fixed income

Conclusion: The PUC must act and use its authority over  transmission and distribution companies

TribTalk from bob Jackson of AARP  | Bring down utility rates under new federal tax law

State: Arizona

Which taxing entity sought to tax leased home solar equipment: Arizona Department of Revenue sought to levy a property tax

What did the Arizona Supreme Court say? Homes are not operating electic eneration facilities, so the Arizona Department of Revenue has no authority to impose a tax

Are there other taxing avenues? The State Supreme Court opinion left open county taxes levied on leased soilar equipment

What entities could be impacted by a tax on leased solar equipment in Arizona?  schools, churches and other government and non-profit organizations

AZ Central | Solar customers don’t have to pay some taxes, state Supreme Court rules

Santa Monica California is considering a permit for Tesla to convert a former Volvo dealership to a retaurant and EV charging station. The future is here.

ABC 7 | Tesla files permit to open restaurant at a supercharger station in Santa Monica

State: Arizona

The regulatory action: The Arizona Corporation Commission places a moratorium on gas powered electric generation

Supporters of the gas generation moratorium say:

• Policy Choices. Utilities should  consider energy storage and clean energy options 
• Short Term:  This will protect ratepayers from potential unnecessary capital improvements
• Long Term:  This will protect ratepayers from stranded asset costs

Utility Dive | Arizona regulators move to place gas plant moratorium on utilities 

What did the FERC Order do? FERC requires grid operators to establish a set of rules to incorporate batteries into the wholesale electricity market with 4 requirements:

• Allow storage to provide energy, capacity and ancillary services;
• Allow storage to set wholesale market prices as a buyer or seller of electricity;
• Respect the operational characteristics of storage, such as discharge duration or state-of-charge requirements, and;
• Set a minimum size for market participation not more than 100 kW. 

What has Texas PUC done? In January it began the rule making process for battery storage integration into the state’s competitive electric market

Houston Chronicle | FERC orders grid operators to make room for battery storage

FERC Order on Energy Storage (February 2018)

American Public Power Association | Texas PUC to take a closer look at energy storage issues

Utility Dive | FERC issues storage, reliability orders, calls conference on aggregated DERs

State: California

How are the water contamination testing fees being implemented?  Potentially within the state budget

Who would pay the water testing fees?

• commercial water users
• residential water users
• fertilizer producers
• dairy producers

What would fees fund?

• “short- and long-term improvements to water infrastructure and help clean up contaminated drinking water systems that affect primarily rural, low-income regions”

What is the proposed fee for commercial and residential users? 95 cents/month

The Opposition: Public Water Agencies

The Opposition’s Suggested Funding Source Change: bonds and federal funds

Sacramento Bee | New fees proposed to pay for California’s contaminated water problem

President and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas gave 2 reasons Texas electric systems withstood Harvey better than other natural disasters:

• an investment in smart meters
• software improvements in power distribution grids

How did smart meters & software improvements help? 

• smart meters helped companies recognize transmission problems before some residents even knew they didn’t have power
• software improvementsb helped shift a new transmission line inland to maintain power supplies

Houston Chronicle | Smart meters helped Houston withstand widespread power loss during Harvey

Background: The Nebraska Legislature passed a bill that allowed for expedited permitting for Transcanada pipeline by allowing the Governor to approve the project outside the ordinary regulatory scheme. Lawsuits ensued. Protestors protested. Concerts were held for the landowners.

What happened in courts?

• Landowners effectively won.
• Pipeline did not use the Governor Office for approval and chose the ordinary regualtory approval.
• The Nebraska Supreme Court on March 9, 2018 denied attorney fee award to the landowners.

AP via Hastings Tribune | Court: TransCanada doesn’t have to pay landowner attorneys

What’s the water law issue? property rights in groundwater, does a land owner, with an interest in the groundwater, have party status to protest a water permit?

Is there a nuance? Yes, does protesting require that the landowner have a well that is impacted? Or, is it enough that the permit protestor is a landowner?

What started this? 

• The Permit Lost Pines Groundwater Conservation District was considering Recharge Water  permit to withdraw 56,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Simsboro formation of the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer in Bastrop and Lee Counties.
• The landowners. 4 landowners wanted to join AquaSource in protesting the permit to draw water.
• Administrative Law Judges sided with Lost Pines because the landowners didn’t have wells in the same aquifer
• 2018 District Court sided with the landowners and sent the permit back tothe GCD

Statesman | Groundwater district appeals judge’s ruling for Bastrop landowners

An Australian regulator are calling for a national battery (energy storage) registry.

Why a national registry of energy storage locations?

• There’s a boom in home enrgy storage installation that could create blind spots in the grid
• Knowing the location of energy storage installations makes grid management easier
• Easier to harness the collective potential of energy storage
• Improve grid security by  more easily identifying and responding to non-credible contingency and protected events

Renew Economy | Regulator pushes for household battery storage register to remove “blind spot” 

Australian Battery Storage Mapping Porposal (2018)

The utilities:  Pacific Gas & Electric  Southern California Edison &  San Diego Gas & Electric

The credits:  $10,000 discount, for a total of more than $20,000 off the cost EVs

Free charging:  The discount includes free charging at specified locations

Utility Dive | California utilities offer $10K rebate on new BMW electric vehicle 

Texas Comptroller Private Letter Ruling: PLR No. 201712002L

What did the private letter ruling do? Extends the Texas franchise tax to oil and gas joint ventures that are  treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes only

2 Reasons the franchise tax applies to these oil and gas joint ventures:

• Rule 3.581(b)(10)’s definition of a taxable “joint venture”—that is, a “partnership engaged in the joint prosecution of a particular transaction for mutual profit”
• the joint venture did not elect out of partnership treatment for federal income tax purposes
  • if it had done so, it would not have qualified for the exclusion under Texas Tax Code Section 171.0002(a) for ventures electing out of federal income tax partnership treatment

Where‘s the legislative issue?

• The ruling was silent on whether the entity is in fact a partnership
• A legislative fix is in Texas Business Organizations Code (“BOC”) § 152.051
  • This section would need to be clarified that the existing language “ownership of mineral property under a joint operating agreement” does not, by itself, create a partnership for margins tax purposes

Letter: Improved energy grid vital to area job growth

Columnist on target in tying energy grid to local job growth

I don’t want to see Fredericksburg fall behind, while Richmond and Northern Virginia see job growth. You can tell Curry Roberts at the Fredericksburg Regional Alliance doesn’t either based on his recent column [Va. bill key to expanded, improved energy grid, Feb. 16, 2018].

You can’t argue with the fact that when businesses are looking to expand into Fredericksburg, they want to know about energy reliability and renewability, as well as cybersecurity. As it stands, we’re operating on a grid that can’t meet the expectations of these businesses. In fact, our current grid can’t even meet our own expectations in the face of increased solar panel and electric car usage.

The Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018 is exactly the legislation we need to make ourselves competitive again. And it’s not just the Fredericksburg area that would be elevated in terms of economic growth and job opportunities by the updates this act proposes—the rest of Virginia would, too.

I want us to set the standard for cutting-edge infrastructure, and that’s why the Fredericksburg community needs to support the Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018.

Debbie Seay

Spotsylvania

Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star | Letter: Improved energy grid vital to area job growth

The vice president of Global Industry Services at the American Petroleum Institute lays out 3 reasons that electric grid security and stability requires data sharing:

• Data Sharing is 1 of the 3 pillars of a stable grid.
  • Cooperative Leaders
  • Cooperative Standards
  • Data and Knowledge Sharing
• Puerto Rico layed the “groundwork to propel smart energy storage to the massive adoption level of the personal computer and the cellphone”
• Need for Wide Scale Commercialization

How will we get there?

• by corralling industry experts, technology innovators and academics into the same room with government leaders and regulators
• by defining gaps between demand and supply
• by identifying the fragility of the current systems
• by calculating the energy storage capacity needed years down the road
• by eliminating information sharing barriers that keep corporate and government leaders and their administrations from shielding their proprietary data methods

Utility Dive | Solving our energy grid problems requires a data sharing economy

The Study:  Environment Texas Report  entitled Local policies, state funds can help city prepare for electric car revolution

The local policies at issue:

• The need for EV charging stations
  • An estimated 2000 more charging stations would be necessary
  • Access to public charging stations
  •  Residential access to on-street EV charging
• The need to improve security of EVs in Houston
• The accessibility to grants to facilitate buiulding EV charging stations 
  • Support for private investment in publicly accessible stations 
• Incentivized EV parking and charging

“Where we really need to place our emphasis is on infrastructure, building out the capacities so that people can feel secure when they’re driving their electric vehicles around Houston,” said Dominic Boyer, director of the Rice Center for Energy and Environmental Research in the Human Sciences.

KHOU | How an electric car boom could impact Houston

South Dakota HB 1292  will remove de novo review for conditional use permits.

The coalition offering recommendations to tweak PURPA:

• Puget Sound Energy
• Northwest and Intermountain Power Producers Coalition
• Renewable Energy Coalition
• Renewable Northwest
• Northwest Energy Coalition and Climate Solutions

The recommendations:

• Contract Negotiations Prior to Execution 
• Standard contact provisions for QFs at or below the size threshold approved by the Commission 
• Term sheets with limited contract provisions for QFs above the size threshold available upon the utility’s website 
• Nameplate capacity of 5 MW size (AC for solar) threshold for standard contract and rate eligibility 
• non-renewable price calculation will include:
  • most recent project proposals received pursuant to an RFP issued under Chapter 480-107 WAC to meet capacity needs
  • estimates included in the utility’s current integrated resource plan
  • results of the utility’s most recent bidding process to meet capacity needs 
  • current projected market prices for power 
• renewable price calculation will include:

  • most recent project proposals to an RFP issued under Chapter 480-107 WAC to comply with the requirements of the Energy Independence Act, 

  • estimates included in the utility’s current integrated resource plan  

  • results of the utility’s most recent bidding process to comply with the requirements of the Energy Independence Act 

  • current projected market prices for power. 

Utility Dive | IPPs, utilities and greens push PURPA recommendations in Washington state

Joint Recommendation of Puget Sound Energy, Northwest and Intermountain Power Producers Coalition, Renewable Energy Coalition, Renewable Northwest, Northwest Energy Coalition and Climate Solutions

The coalition:  Energy Companies + EV manufacturers + Environmental Groups

The numbers:

• 2017 saw 227 state- and utility-level actions related to EVs
• 43 states and the District of Columbia in 2017
• 70 were changes to the regulation of electric vehicles in 34 states
• 53 actions were Financial incentives, including cash rebates,  in D.C. and 19 states
• 36 actions in 17 states related to Market development policies were the subject 
• 27 studies or investigations of transportation electrification in D.C. and 20 states
• 17 states took 24 actions on vehicle or charger infrastructure deployment
•  17 utility or legislative actions for EV rate redesign
• 28 actions taken in 19 states that created or amended EV-related fees

Most common EV related legislation in order of popularity:

• Fees
• Rebate programs
• EV Rate Tariffs
• EV studies
• Level 2 Charging Deployment
• Sales Tax Incentives
• Income Tax Incentives
• Grid Modernizagtion Studies
• Electric Resale
• Grant Programs
• HOV Lane Access

Utility Dive | Team of rivals: Utilities, enviros unite to push electric vehicles

Iowa Sente File 2235 (2018) protects pipelines from sabotage.

The 4 points you need to know to be informed to talk to your clients about brining this bill to your state:

• Iowa bill was the brainchild of the Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
• The Iowa bill categorized the protection broadly as protecting critical infrastructure
• Special circumstances in Iowa: Millions of dollars in damage by protesters in Iowa  to sections of the Dakota Access Pipeline
• The bill’s new critical infrastructure crime looks like this:
  • crime of critical infrastructure sabotage
  • Class B felony
  • Up to 25 years in prison & a fine of between $85,000 and $100,000

Des Moines Register | Bill banning sabotage of pipelines, ‘critical infrastructure’ passes Iowa Senate

Iowa Public Radio | Iowa Senate Strikes Back Against Pipeline Protesters