Energy Law

The 14 MW solar farm at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada demonstrates the potential for further energy innovation opportunities within the Department of Defense.

With Congress demurring once again on comprehensive energy innovation reform, creative and practical thinking will be necessary to build America?s clean energy economy. One opportunity often overlooked is to leverage the Department of Defense (DOD), a traditional engine of American innovation,for the task.

Along these lines, the CNA Military Advisory Board today debuted their new report, Powering America?s Economy: Energy Innovation at the Crossroad of National Security Challenges, at an event at the Russell Senate office building. The new report?which foreshadows an upcoming AEL report?explores the growing challenges presented by the close connection between the U.S. energy portfolio and its economic and national security.

The most vocal group to oppose Cape Wind was dealt a setback yesterday, when the state Department of Public Utilities denied its request for more time to review confidential cost and pricing data about the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm.

The state agency, which must approve a proposed deal by the utility National Grid to buy power from Cape Wind, said the request by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound for three additional weeks of review was unnecessary because the group has already had ?adequate time?? to review much of the material. The agency also said that after the Alliance was granted legal status in the review process, it waited a week to request information that it said was needed for its review from involved parties.

The 30 megawatt Kahuku Wind project has nabbed a $117 million loan guarantee for project owner and operator Kahuku Wind Power.

The Oahu-based project, uses 12 Clipper Windpower 2.5 MW Liberty wind turbine gnerators and a 10 megawatt battery energy storage system made by Xtreme Power, which closed a $29.5 million financing round on Tuesday. First Wind Holdings, which built the 30 MW Kaheawa wind project in Maui, is the project sponsor of the Kahuku project.

As GreenBeat?s Camille Ricketts notes Hawaii has an ambitious program to get 70 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2030.

MONTPELIER ? A Vermont renewable energy company has been chosen to install 120 solar panels next month at a private Washington, D.C. school attended by President Obama?s two daughters.

White River Junction?s groSolar will break ground next month on a unique renewable energy project at the Sidwell Friends School, a private Quaker-run school in Bethesda, Maryland attended by about 1,100 students.

That institution?s elementary school is attended by Sasha and Malia, the daughters of President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

?We realize that there are a lot of people interested in this story because of who attends the school,? said Gaelan Brown, a spokesperson for groSolar. ?But what we find really interesting is that this project is an example of innovative ways that communities can get solar projects up and running.?

Northern Maine and Nova Scotia share coastline along the Bay of Fundy, a piece of ocean with the strongest tides in the world. In order to harness the powerful forces of those tides, the leaders of Maine and Nova Scotia have formed a partnership to develop ocean energy technologies in the area.

Both Maine's Governor John Baldacci and Nova Scotia's Premier Darrell Dexter have been very supportive of developing renewables in recent years. Earlier this month, both leaders announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to work on share information on tidal and offshore wind energy between academics, researchers, policy makers and developers.

The University of Texas and Texas A&M, in partnership with a Texas energy company, have announced the launch of two separate programs to promote renewable energy to alumni and fans: Texas Longhorns Energy (TLE) and Aggie Energy.

Both programs will offer 100 percent renewable energy to school supporters that will also raise money for sustainability initiatives at the Universities. The TLE service will be offered starting in mid-August, while Aggie Energy begins September 3.

Both programs will be targeted toward their respective alumni and Longhorns fans that live in deregulated regions of Texas. The Sports Business Journal estimates nearly 280,000 UT alumni currently live in Texas, and most areas in the state are deregulated for energy.