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March 29, 2010

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Department of the Interior (DOI) through the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and Department of the Army (DOA) through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), announced on March 24, 2010 the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the federal agencies to promote the development of hydropower.  Pursuant to the MOU, studies will be conducted over the next few years that may help industry determine which Federal dams and reservoirs would be best suited for non-Federal hydropower development.  The process will hopefully determine which sites will have the fewest roadblocks from stakeholders, including the federal dam owners themselves.  These studies may also lead to a determination of which projects can be most efficiently integrated into the grid. 

On February 24, 2010, the Department of Energy’s (“DOE”) Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (“Berkeley Lab”) released their report Exploration of Resource and Transmission Expansion Decisions in the Western Renewable Energy Zone Initiative.  The analysis found that $22-$34 billion is needed to build transmission infrastructure in order to meet the West’s 33% renewable energy target.

On Friday, January 29, 2010, Energy Secretary Steven Chu revealed the members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.  The Blue Ribbon Commission has the task of developing a new national strategy to deal with nuclear waste as an alternative to the Yucca Mountain repository.  Additionally, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced that its 2011 budget will significantly increase loan guarantees for nuclear projects.

On December 7, 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy (“DOE”) announced the issuance of a final rule amending certain provisions of its loan guarantee program for innovative technologies as authorized by Section 1703 of Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (“Final Rule”). The amendments reverse the DOE’s previous interpretation of two provisions of Section 1702 of Title XVII to require a superior first lien on any property acquired pursuant to a guarantee. The Final Rule was promulgated by the DOE after its review of all comments submitted in response to the DOE’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Opportunity for Comment published on August 7, 2009 (“NOPR”). (Please refer to our summary of the NOPR circulated on August 7, 2009, for more information on the proposed changes.)