DONG Energy has agreed to take over RES Americas Developments Inc.’s (RES) more than 1000-MW newly assigned development project rights off the coast of Massachusetts. At the offshore wind auction held by BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) on January 29, 2015, RES secured the rights to develop one of the two leases that were…
Colorado Legislature approves the state’s RES in SB 252
The Colorado General Assembly has approved a bill to expand and improve the state’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) to drive clean energy investment, jobs, and project development in rural Colorado. The bill now goes to Governor John Hickenlooper’s desk for consideration. SB 252, cosponsored by Senate President John Morse and House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, protects…
Developers complete 139.4-MW Pennsylvania project
Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) has announce the completion of the 139.4 MW Twin Ridges Wind Farm located in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The project was completed in December of 2012 and is now operational. RES Americas served as the balance-of-plant contractor for the project, which was developed and is owned by EverPower. The…
California signs 33% renewable portfolio standard into law
By Dian Grueneich and Theresa Cho, Morrison & Foerster Reaffirming California’s commitment to the development and use of renewable energy sources, Governor Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill X1 2, which requires all California utilities to generate 33% of their electricity from renewables by 2020. The new 33% renewable portfolio standard (RPS)—the most ambitious in…
Illinois Electric Power procurement issues for 2011
This article comes from law firm Foley & Lardner LLP. Readers with an interest in policy and financing will read how one Midwestern state and its utilities are dealing with goals in their Renewable Electricity Standard and influencing issues such as renewable energy credits. The Illinois Power Agency’s (IPA) plan for purchasing power for Illinois’…
California Air Resources board adopts risky 33% RE standard
This article comes from law firm of Stoel Rives LLP, (stoel.com) The California Air Resources Board (ARB) unanimously adopted its Renewable Energy Standard (RES), mandating that California’s public and investor-owned electric utilities procure 33% of their electricity from renewable resources by 2020. The RES was adopted pursuant to the authority granted the ARB in AB…
Is the U.S. Wind Industry Losing Ground?
We’ve all read the news that the United States has, after four years of remarkable growth, relinquished its’ position as the most attractive country for renewable energy investments. But rather than state the news, I want to discuss why we are slowly slipping behind our foreign competitors. One key factor in the U.S. decline is…
Top 10 best practices for avoiding construction change orders
Although change orders are not always a bad thing, site developers and construction companies have formulated a few guidelines for minimizing them. By: Paul Dvorak/Editor Contract change orders are so ubiquitous in some industries that if you Google the term, spaghetti-like flow charts pop up showing how a few organizations handle the changes. The charts…
Is the lack of an RES in the latest ‘energy bill’ a big deal?
There has been a lot of hype these past few days, much of it stemming from the AWEA lobbyists, about the lack of a strong RES in the latest so called “energy bill”. After some research and a bit of thought, I’ve come to the conclusion that the lack of an RES is the “energy…