Energy Law

Senators John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, presented their long-delayed proposal to address global warming and energy Wednesday afternoon. They are calling it the American Power Act.

Joesph Romm at Climate Progress has an early analysis of the bill, based on the draft summary leaked to the press. Brad Johnson at the Wonk Room has also published a nice table comparing the key provisions of the legislation to early versions of proposed climate legislation.

Cape Wind, the Boston-based offshore wind developer, is considering selling an equity stake to one or more strategic partners to raise capital to support construction of its 420-megawatt offshore wind farm to be constructed on the Nantucket Sound, an industry source tells G.E.R.

Those of you who follow energy and environmental issues with some regularity will surely know the McKinsey greenhouse gas cost abatement curve ? but for those who are unfamiliar with it, it?s shown above.

All sorts of interesting tidbits can be gleaned from the chart, but the takeaway point ? one of critical import to the hundreds of government officials, business executives and advocates for energy reform gathered this week in Washington for the Energy Efficiency Global Forum and Exhibition ? is pretty simple: The most inexpensive way to bring down greenhouse gas emissions is to improve energy efficiency.

Drawing power from the churning sea can seem as difficult as finding Kraken the mythical sea monster. Despite tales of successful trials and imminent commercialization, the wave power industry remains largely in the research and development stages. But a utility-backed project in California could help propel this class of technology into a reliable supply of energy.

The Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) recently filed a federal application to build a 5-megawatt (MW) project about three miles off the coast of Humboldt County in Northern California. The utility plans to select three to four wave energy converter device makers for the 5-year project, which PG&E considers a pilot effort to test different types of technologies, said Jana Morris, a PG&E spokeswoman.

DOE and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on May 6 jointly announced up to $33 million in funding for biomass research and development. The funding will support projects and processes that produce advanced biofuels, bioenergy, and high-value biobased products.

DOE announced on May 7 that $60 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding is available to continue supporting innovative small business research and development leading to the deployment of clean energy technologies. This announcement starts the second phase of DOE's Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) program. In the first phase, DOE awarded 125 grants of up to $150,000 to 107 small advanced technology firms across the United States, competitively selected from 950 applicants across the United States. The second phase will provide continued support to first-phase awardees that have demonstrated successful results with their new technologies and can now show their potential to meet market needs. DOE expects to make 58 awards of up to $1 million for SBIR awardees and up to $750,000 for STIR awardees. Applications are due by June 7.

Vermont Energy Investment Corp. announced Tuesday that Jim Merriam, the former chief operating officer of groSolar, will become director of Efficiency Vermont beginning in June.

VEIC is a nonprofit energy services organization, best known for operating Efficiency Vermont, Vermont's statewide energy efficiency utility.

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Gov. John Baldacci joined state lawmakers and advocates for renewable energy on Tuesday to celebrate the passage of a suite of bills aimed at helping lessen Maine?s dependence on foreign oil and other fossil fuels.

National Life Group announced on Wednesday that its biomass energy project will meet 90 percent of the heating needs of its Montpelier campus while reducing the company's annual carbon footprint by 45 percent.

The $2 million project, scheduled to be completed in late summer, is expected to cut National Life's annual usage of heating oil from 210,000 gallons to about 30,000 gallons. The company's $500,000 annual heating bill will be cut roughly in half.

National Life's 500,000-square-foot headquarters is one of the largest commercial buildings in Vermont.