Energy & Sustainability

The Obama Administration’s release of the final Clean Power Plan kicked off a busy second half of the year for climate and energy policy issues.

In late July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a ruling to help ISO-New England more effectively manage congestion on its grid due to growing renewable energy generation.

In August, the U.S. Department of Energy released its 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report. The report, released annually for the past three years, tracks American progress in wind related areas including installed capacity, prices, jobs, and technological trends, among several others.

After an action packed few weeks for energy and environmental policy in Washington, Congress is in recess until after Labor Day. Meanwhile, the Obama Administration is currently managing reactions to the Clean Power Plan – both positive and negative.

Great clean energy ideas need venture capital to build, scale, and make revenue – but who knows how it really works? Last week, our own VC attorney Jeremy Glaser sat down with Oren Klaff, author of Pitch Anything, on his Done Deal web video series.

This week in Washington was filled with long awaited energy and climate developments. The Obama Administration revealed the final Clean Power Plan after a lengthy rulemaking and comment process.

Last Wednesday UPS agreed to purchase up to 46 million gallons of renewable diesel over the course of the next three years from the energy companies Neste, Renewable Energy Group, and Solazyme. 

President Obama unveiled the final Clean Power Plan (CPP) this past weekend – the first ever national standard to address CO2 pollution from power plants. The CPP sets strong standards to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 while maintaining energy reliability and affordability.  For the plan highlights and analysis, read on!

As Congress closes in on the August recess, bipartisan energy bills have emerged from both the House and Senate. While these and tax extenders are on Capitol Hill's energy related agenda, the Obama Administration prepares to publish the much anticipated final Clean Power Plan. For more, click here for the latest update from ML Strategies.

On July 8, the U.S. Energy Department, during the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative’s Southeast Regional Summit, announced the national laboratories who will take the lead in implementing a new Small Businesses Vouchers Pilot.

Congress is hard at work leading up to the August recess, with major focuses that include No Child Left Behind reform, tax extenders, and broad energy packages.

As Congress resumes after the Independence Day recess, the House debates several energy related funding measures, while the Senate awaits the broad Murkowski - Cantwell energy package.

U.K. Trade & Investment and the British Consulates General’s 3rd annual GREAT Tech Awards kicked off in June with the opening of this year’s application and - for the first time ever - New England start-ups will have an opportunity to participate.

On June 26, Mintz Levin and E2: Environmental Entrepreneurs celebrated E2’s 15th Anniversary with a program titled “Revitalizing America's Middle Class in a Clean Energy Economy.”

In the final full week before the July 4 recess, energy policy is taking center stage in both the legislative and executive branches. The Senate continues to piece together a broad bipartisan energy package, while the House takes on the EPA's funding, the Clean Power Plan, and listens to officials on advanced battery storage.

Yesterday, the White House hosted a Clean Energy Investment Summit where Vice President Biden highlighted more than $4 billion in pledges from major foundations and long -term investors to fund climate change solutions.

On Tuesday, June 2, New England Economic Partnership, The Massachusetts Business Roundtable, and the Brandeis International Business School held a conference at the Boston Federal Reserve titled “Building the Backbone of Energy Efficiency.”

Mintz Levin recently hosted an Energy Tech 10 Year Anniversary Celebration at District Hall in Boston. To mark over a decade of helping energy innovators succeed, our Energy Technology Practice Group would like to thank our more than 250 clients nationwide for aiding in our success.

On Thursday, June 23, the New England Women in Energy and Environment is hosting its first annual “Women in Energy and the Environment Shaping the Agenda” Panel Series from 5:30-8:30pm at the MIT Sloan School of Management. National Grid, Robinson and Cole, NextEra Energy, and Mintz Levin are sponsoring the event.

While much of the focus in Congress is on the National Security Agency, fiscal year 2016 appropriations, and the trade promotion authority, energy and environmental policy also made headlines both before and after the Memorial Day Recess.