Former founding CEO of SunEdison, Jigar Shah, started a new company based on what’s being called the “infrastructure as a service” model. The idea is an extension of the financing strategy that dominates the rooftop solar PV business today. “Here’s how it works: Generate Capital will put up funds — between $2 million to $20… Keep reading →
On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, the Guarini Center at NYU Law convened a roundtable discussion on utility regulation in the United Kingdom, focusing on its new “RIIO” model. The event brought together American regulators, NGOs, utilities, and academics to exchange thoughts and ideas with presenters from the analogous spheres in Britain. A roundtable report will follow in… Keep reading →
Solar is one of the fastest growing industries in the US, which now employs more people than the coal and natural gas industries combined, but women have largely been left behind. In our series on careers in energy, we take a look at the women, organizations and companies pushing for a more gender diverse workplace.… Keep reading →
Although the NC General Assembly adjourned last summer it is customary to allow some laws that require lead time for implementation to go into effect on December 1st. The following is a list of NC laws that are new today:
Republicans are vowing to try to derail the Obama administration’s proposed rules for reducing carbon emissions for existing power plants, but on the last day for public comment on the Environmental Protection Agency plan, the organizations that support it weren’t giving any ground – in fact, they offered analysis and argument pressing the EPA to… Keep reading →
Demand response firm EnerNOC yesterday announced it will acquire Canadian data and analytics firm Pulse Energy. The deal highlights how energy companies – particularly in the utility sector, but also oil & gas – are increasingly becoming technology companies. “The acquisition is yet another example of how industries that previously weren’t driven by digital technology,… Keep reading →
UN negotiators are meeting in Lima, Peru to construct a draft climate change mitigation agreement that will be finalized over the next year with the goal of signing it in Paris in 2015. The plan is to allow each country to develop a greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategy that can be realistically achieved. “But while… Keep reading →
This is the third in a series of six Q&As with Baker Botts partners addressing the most significant developments in their practice areas this year, as well as their outlook for 2015. The Q&As will be posted throughout the remainder of the year.
Bill Bumpers is Head of the Global Climate Change practice group at Baker Botts. His practice focuses on the Clean Air Act and climate change issues.
The PA Awards ceremony held last week at the New York Academy of Sciences brought together industry leaders and consultants to discuss and review emerging trends and challenges of the utility industry. The evening involved an Executive Forum, “How technology and regulatory change is driving a customer-centric transformation of the utility.” Panelists included Robert Schimmenti, Senior… Keep reading →
On Tuesday, November 4, 2014, 59 percent of voters elected to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing (“fracing”) in the city of Denton, which sits on top of the hydrocarbon-rich Barnett Shale. Although the ban does not prevent conventional drilling operations, the ban essentially forbids fracing, effectively expelling the drilling industry from city limits. Other municipalities sitting on top of the Barnett Shale—such as Fort Worth, Dallas and Arlington—have grappled with urban drilling as well, but Denton’s complete prohibition marks the first of its kind in Texas.
