On September 2, 2009, Milford Wind Corridor, LLC (“Milford”) submitted a Petition for Declaratory Order requesting the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) to confirm that it can retain its firm rights to use 1,000 MW of transmission on a generator lead Milford constructed itself in order to interconnect the full capacity of five planned phases of its entire wind project.

In a court filing on September 16th, the Justice Department announced that the EPA will reconsider controversial Bush-era National Ambient Air Quality Standards (“NAAQS”) for ozone, sometimes referred to as smog.  EPA plans to act on a very fast schedule, with a proposed new ozone standard by December 21 and a final rule by August 31, 2010. 

In a joint press conference on September 15, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) released details of a new national suite of automobile standards that would mandate increased corporate average fuel economy (“CAFE”) standards and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions limits.

On August 31, 2009, the Climate Change Policy Partnership based at Duke University released a report, Electrical Transmission-Barriers and Policy Solutions, suggesting that real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) could provide the vehicle for creating the capital necessary to expand the national transmission grid in order to meet future electricity demands. 

On June 9, 2009, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a decision that upheld orders from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC” or the “Commission”) granting PPL Montana, LLC, PPL Colstrip LLC, and PPL Colstrip II LLC (collectively, “PPL”) market-based rate authority despite challenges by petitioners Montana Consumer Council and REC Silicon (collectively, “Montana Consumer Council” or “Petitioners”).