clean energy

Fundamental changes in the way that the electric utility and power sector operates, interacts with customers, and relates to its regulators are occurring on a massive scale and at an unprecedented pace. Covington is committed to exploring these transformations affecting the power sector, helping our clients to understand and navigate the changes, and fostering collaborations to respond to the evolving nature of the power grid.

To this end, Covington has hosted a series of conversations with key thought leaders in industry and government to address the ramifications of these transformations. The first two conversations in the fall of 2015 focused on both the technology that underlies and enables these changes, and the response of the regulatory framework to the rise of distributed generation and a far more nimble and customer-oriented array of electricity services. A summary of these conversations can be found here.

On October 5, 2016 Covington, in collaboration with the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) and Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), hosted a conversation devoted to the issue of corporate energy procurement. Senior representatives of corporations, utilities, developers, government agencies and NGOs participated in person and by webinar. Followers on Twitter joined the conversation at #CovingtonGOTF. Highlights of the discussion appear below with a link to the full audio replay.

October 5, 2016 – Covington’s Washington, DC Office Corporate Procurement & Renewable Energy: Market Overview (click here for the recording)

Continue Reading Grid of the Future: Opportunities, Challenges, and Solutions in Corporate Energy Procurement

Earlier this year, FERC held four technical conferences to discuss the implications of state, regional and/or federal plans for compliance with EPA’s proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP) rule to set carbon emission limits for existing electricity generating units.  A major issue raised was the impact of the CPP on electric grid reliability as coal-fired generators

Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen recently decried “the failure to develop a framework for assessing the comparative costs of different sources of energy . . . inclusive of the externalities involved.”  As if on cue, the European Union (EU) issued an interim research report by an outside consultancy last month that purported to do just

As has been widely reported, on November 12 President Obama and China’s President Xi Jinping released a joint announcement on climate change and clean energy cooperation.  Beyond the announced greenhouse gas emission targets—for the U.S., to reduce emissions 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025; for China, (i) to peak CO2 emissions by around 2030, with

Residential rooftop solar energy continues to expand at a rapid pace in many states. This growing market dynamic is affecting the business model of traditional electric utilities. Some utilities have sought to impose obstacles to the growth of competing solar rooftop providers, citing concern that as more homes produce their own electricity, the corresponding loss

The Department of Energy (“DOE”) issued a draft solicitation yesterday for a new Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient Projects Loan Guarantee Program.  Once finalized, the Program is expected to make as much as $4 billion in loan guarantees available to innovative clean energy technology projects that are not currently in commercial use.  Based on DOE’s