Last month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) aimed at overcoming market barriers faced by emerging energy storage technologies as well as new technologies that allow aggregation and coordinated dispatch of small distributed energy resources. While the NOPR is limited to ISO and RTO markets, energy market participants in the Pacific Northwest would nonetheless be well advised to pay attention to the NOPR. This is true because the Energy Imbalance Market is expanding into the Northwest, which will effectively expand the footprint of the California ISO into this region. In addition, regulators in this region are likely to look to FERC for guidance on these emerging issues even if not strictly applicable in non-RTO regions.

Microsoft is leading the charge against the traditional utility model, which, like many large high-tech companies, has adopted a corporate sustainability policy that mandates aggressive reductions in the company’s greenhouse gas emissions and, ultimately, use of 100% renewable energy. Microsoft’s sustainability policy has run head-long into the heavy dependence of its major electricity supplier, Puget Sound Energy, and the collision has produced cracks in Washington’s utility regulatory model that may presage a fundamental rethinking of Washington’s utility business model.

Last week, the Western Area Power Administration (“WAPA”) issued a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) seeking renewable energy for Navy bases located in WAPA’s California service territory. The RFP seeks bids for new renewable generation projects with up to 150 MW of capacity.

On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a host of challenges to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) Order No. 1000, upholding the order in its entirety. As we’ve previously discussed, Order No. 1000 aims to create a level regulatory playing field for independent transmission developers, thus encouraging new sources of badly-needed investment in the nation’s transmission infrastructure.

On August 4, in response to a series of lawsuits brought by the environmental advocacy group Columbia Riverkeeper, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to regulatory measures aimed at preventing oil leaks from eight dams on the Columbia/Snake River system.