On June 7, 2013, President Obama issued a memorandum titled “Transforming our Nation’s Electric Grid Through Improved Siting, Permitting and Review.” The memo directs the Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, and the Interior (collectively the “Secretaries”) to engage in certain actions aimed at establishing energy right-of-way corridors on Federal lands (“energy corridors”) and improved transmission siting, permitting, and review processes. The memo focuses on expanding energy corridors outside those designated by the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture in 2009 in 11 contiguous Western States (as defined in section 368 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005). [Read more →]

An Oregon federal judge on Friday refused to clear SolarWorld Industries America Inc. of allegations it sold photovoltaic cells with a type of conductive paste that infringed a DuPont Co. patent, ruling there were factual disputes that a jury should consider.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis James Hubel denied a motion for summary judgment lodged by SolarWorld and co-defendant Heraeus Precious Metals North America Conshohocken LLC, which makes silver photovoltaic pastes that SolarWorld incorporates in solar cells, according to the suit. SolarWorld and Heraeus sought a ruling that they had not infringed DuPont’s U.S. Patent Number 8,158,504. [Read more →]

The Obama administration recently increased the “social cost” of carbon emissions in crafting federal regulations, a move experts say reinforces expectations that it will take a tough stance when setting emissions standards and assessing the environmental impact of major projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline.

On Wednesday, June 5, 2013, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) issued the Final Sale Notice for the sale of commercial wind energy leases on the Outer Continental Shelf. The auction is scheduled to take place on July 31, 2013 and will offer 164,750 acres for commercial wind energy leasing off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. BOEM will simultaneously auction the area as two separate leases. [Read more →]

On May 20, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a “windfall tax” imposed on a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (“PPL”) by the United Kingdom (“U.K.”) is creditable for U.S. tax purposes. The Supreme Court held that the predominant character of the tax was tantamount to an excessive profit tax, and therefore, is classified as an income tax and creditable for U.S. purposes. The Supreme Court’s ruling overturned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s (“Third Circuit”) prior decision on the matter. [Read more →]