Schiff Hardin’s Environmental Group took a look prospects for renewable energy in 2020 and determined that development is expected to continue through 2020 and beyond.

Authors of the post in the Energy & Environmental Law Adviser blog are Alex Garel-Frantzen, Amy Antoniolli and Brett Cooper.

They discuss three key issues facing the industry for the coming year: waning federal government incentives; siting renewable energy projects at such locations as retired power plants and landfills can lower costs; and local communities can be slow to get on board with renewable energy initiatives.

See the article.

Foley Hoag’s Energy and Cleantech practice and NECEC recently present a webinar discussion with offshore wind developers, leading public officials, investors and experts at the cutting edge of the Northeast’s emerging offshore wind market.

The recorded webinar is now available for on-demand viewing on the firm’s website.

After decades of speculation about offshore wind’s future in the United States, the industry that has long powered grids in Europe has finally arrived in the Northeast, the firm said on its website. In the last year America’s first offshore wind project — off the coast of Rhode Island — started spinning and delivering power to the grid, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed into law a bill authorizing the procurement of 1,600 megawatts of offshore wind, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo committed to 2,400 megawatts of offshore wind off the coast of New York by 2030. Meanwhile, major utilities have announced agreements with developers to purchase energy generated from the projects planned for the eastern seaboard.

Watch the on-demand webinar.

Akin Gump recently hosted the webinar “30 Days Postelection, Reading the Tea Leaves on the U.S. Renewables Market,” looking at the future of renewable energy under the incoming Trump administration. Audio of that webinar now is available om the firm’s website.

Panelists included members of the firm’s global projects and finance and public law and policy practices:

• Former U.S. Senator John Sununu (R-NH), adjunct senior policy advisor, public law and policy
• John Marciano, partner, renewable energy tax
• Jeff McMillen, partner, public law and policy
• Ed Pagano, partner, public law and policy
• Brian Pomper, partner, public law and policy
• Ed Zaelke, partner, renewable energy & chair, global project finance practice

“The speakers addressed several topics of interest to U.S. and European private equity funds invested in renewable energy as well as renewable energy investors, developers, tax equity investors and lenders,” the firm says on its website. “The panel discussed how issues such as tax credits, trade policy and environmental concerns might be addressed during a Trump administration.”

Listen to the webinar audio on-demand.

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While the oral arguments about the merits of the Clean Power Plan are heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) remains confident the plan will be upheld by the courts, reports Renewable Energy Magazine.

The Clean Power Plan is the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule placing the first-ever federal carbon pollution limits on American electric power plants, writes Robin Whitlock.

Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA, issued a statement, saying in part: “The clean-energy train has already left the station in the form of affordable renewable energy already making major carbon pollution reductions today. The Clean Power Plan reasonably builds on these existing trends in the power sector that have allowed many states to reliably and cost-effectively slash carbon pollution at a rapid rate over the last decade through investment in clean sources of electric generation, like wind power. We fully expect the D.C. Circuit to agree that EPA correctly took these facts into account in considering well-established pollution control measures, such as renewable energy, when establishing carbon reduction standards for power plants under the plan.”

Read the article.

Renewable energy sources are intermittent in nature, depending on when the sun shines and the wind blows. Because of this, suppliers face “ramp up” and “ramp down” issues, writes Thomas R. Burton III of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. in an article published in The National Law Review.

“Energy storage offers a way to harness renewables at their peak supply and deploy them at their peak demand,” he writes.

He cites programs in Massachusetts  and California as examples of how government policy can help accelerate adoption.

Read the article.