Firm News and Announcements

Lauren Perkins Moderated Panel at the 11th Annual Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law

Lauren Perkins, of DWGP, moderated a panel consisting of Brian D’Agostino of San Diego Gas & Electric Company (“SDG&E”); Gary Fitts of Nobleprofit and Greenware Technologies; Steven Weissman of University of California Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy and Senior Policy Advisor to the Center for Sustainable Energy; and Samir Hafez, a student of the University of San Diego School of Law.

The 11th Annual Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law took place at the University of San Diego on November 8, 2019, focusing on challenges facing California, namely meeting decarbonization and Renewables Portfolio Standard goals while maintaining reliability, and mitigating catastrophic wildfire risk. At the center of discussion were recent Public Safety Power Shutoff events throughout the State in response to high fire threat conditions. A major theme throughout the event was addressing social equity issues, such as uncertainty as to power availability and resulting increased reliance on distributed generation and other backup power sources that not all customers may have access to, deploying new technologies and funding community-scale projects, and rising residential electricity rates with no signs of slowing down given the State’s electrification transition.

Derek Dyson Presented on Ocean Energy Thermal Conversion Technology

DWGP attorney Derek Dyson spoke on ocean energy thermal conversion (OTEC) technology and the viability of development at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) sponsored Caribbean Marine Energy Technology Forum 2019 (CARIMET) on November 6-7, 2019, in St. George's, Grenada. Mr. Dyson presented on behalf of Cayman OTEC International Limited, a direct subsidiary of OTI International, LLC, and The Abell Foundation. The Abell Foundation has acted as an agent of change by supporting results-oriented efforts to ameliorate the systemic social, economic, and environmental challenges encountered by those living in concentrated poverty. Mr. Dyson has been working with Cayman OTEC to promote and develop off-shore power for service within Grand Cayman. The 12.5 MW Cayman OTEC power plant will reduce electricity rates for Cayman consumers, has completed a thorough environmental assessment and would be the first commercially-financed, utility-scale OTEC facility.

DWGP Attorneys Derek Dyson and Sean Neal presented at APPA's 2019 Legal and Regulatory Conference

Derek Dyson presented on the utilization of Rural Utilities Service (RUS) financing for project development at this year's 2019 APPA Legal and Regulatory Conference in Portland, Oregon. For more information, contact Derek Dyson.

Sean Neal presented on Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII) considerations at the state and federal level at the 2019 APPA Legal and Regulatory Conference. For more information, contact Sean Neal.

Bhaveeta Mody and Kristen Connolly McCullough presented on Recent FERC Issuances and Filings and their Potential Impacts on the Cost of Transmission Service and on Transmission Infrastructure Development at the APPA 2019 Legal and Regulatory Conference

DWGP attorneys Bhaveeta Mody and Kristen Connolly McCullough spoke at the APPA October 2019 Legal and Regulatory Conference as part of a Transmission Report panel to address various FERC filings and issuances in the past year that have the potential to significantly impact the costs of transmission service and transmission infrastructure development, including as to transmission incentive rates, return on equity, and transmission planning and cost allocation.

NYAPP awards Sue Kelly the Wallace L. Duncan Public Power Award

Sue Kelly and NYAPP Officers: Travis DuBois, Paul J. Pallas, Mark Schneider and David L. Leathers

Sue Kelly was named the 2019 recipient of the New York Association of Public Power’s Wallace L. Duncan Public Power Award. American Public Power Association’s CEO, Sue Kelly, who has served in that role since 2014, will retire at the end of 2019. NYAPP is composed of 9 municipal electric utilities and four rural electric cooperatives.

Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Completes Expansion of Navajo Nation Utility-Scale Solar Plant

Source: Navajo Times - https://navajotimes.com/ntua-kayenta-solar-project-chart-path-to-the-future/

On September 20, 2019, the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) celebrated the grand opening of its newly expanded thermal power generating facility in Kayenta, Arizona. The project, known as Kayenta II, is the first and only utility-scale solar power generation facility to be 100% owned and operated by a tribal nation in the United States. The Kayenta project, which includes an earlier phase of 27.5 installed megawatts completed in late 2017, now totals approximately 55 megawatts of installed solar capacity. The project will serve approximately 36,000 residents and businesses within the Navajo Nation. NTUA also partnered with Salt River Project in a power purchase agreement for the offtake of the excess energy generated, as well as, the renewable energy credits produced from the Kayenta facility.

DWGP Attorneys Led Seminars on FERC Electricity 101, Compliance and Enforcement

On October 7 and 8, 2019, attorneys from Duncan, Weinberg, Genzer & Pembroke, P.C. led seminars hosted by the EUCI entitled FERC Electricity 101 and FERC Compliance and Enforcement in Herndon, VA.

Kristen Connolly McCullough Presented on Regulatory Changes and Impact to Compliance Managers at the ReliabilityFirst Fall Workshop

DWGP Attorney Kristen Connolly McCullough presented at the Fall Workshop put on by one of the six designated North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Regional Entities, ReliabilityFirst. She was invited to speak on how environmental and other regulatory changes to the grid are challenging compliance managers in new ways. She walked through the impacts each of these changing grid characteristics has on the ability to plan and model, as well as see the grid in real-time to maintain the reliability and resilience of the grid. She identified opportunities to adapt and modernize the grid, including the recent announcement by the Department of Energy to establish the North American Energy Resilience Model (NAERM). She ended with an example of the reliability implications created for compliance managers at the intersection of environmental policies, advancing technologies, and standards not being able to keep up with the changing grid characteristics. Specifically, she addressed the loss of solar resources during transmission disturbances due to inverter settings. For more information, please contact Kristen Connolly McCullough.

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