Ari Peskoe – Page 51 – Environmental and Energy Law Program

Research Areas

Bio

Ari has written extensively about electricity regulation, on issues ranging from rooftop solar to constitutional challenges to states’ energy laws. Prior to the Electricity Law Initiative, he was an associate at a law firm in Washington, D.C., where he litigated before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about the Western Energy Crisis. Before that, Ari was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana and spent two years trying to bring the 2012 Olympics to New York. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in electrical engineering and business.

Electricity Law Initiative

State Power Project

Featured

Research Paper Electricity Law

Extracting Profits from the Public: How Utility Ratepayers Are Paying for Big Tech’s Power

New paper from the Harvard Electricity Law Initiative uncovers how utilities are forcing ratepayers to fund discounted rates for data centers.

Latest

In the Media
E&E News

Senate confirms McNamee, and challenges await

As promised, Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, filed a challenge at FERC yesterday calling on McNamee to disqualify himself from two pending matters and from future proceedings concerning rates for “fuel-secure” generators.

January 22, 2019

In the Media
Utility Dive

The Supreme Court should reject requests for a do-over on state clean energy programs

Last week, power generation companies asked the Supreme Court to review a pair of lower court decisions upholding states’ Zero Emission Credit (ZEC) programs. Nearly identical ZEC programs enacted by New York and Illinois require utilities to compensate certain nuclear plants for their emission-free power by purchasing credits that represent the environmental benefits of zero-emission energy.

January 22, 2019

EELP News

The Supreme Court Should Reject Requests for a Do-Over about State Clean Energy Programs

This article appeared in UtilityDive on January 17, 2019. The Court’s previous decision on electricity regulation strikes the right balance between state and FERC authority in restructured power markets. Last […]

January 17, 2019

In the Media
RTO Insider

EPSA Asks Supreme Court to Review ZEC Rulings

Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School, said, “These arguments about the text of the FPA and the court’s 2016 Hughes decision largely repeat the generators’ briefs filed at the 2nd and 7th Circuits. In rejecting these arguments, the 2nd Circuit panel found it ‘telling that [the generators] cannot persuasively explain why FERC’s holding [disclaiming jurisdiction over RECs] does not apply equally to ZECs.’”

January 15, 2019

In the Media
Megawatt Daily and Energy Trader

Against the odds, power trade group asks US Supreme Court to review state ZEC decisions

“My view is that EPSA’s jurisdictional theory confuses Congress’s broad delegation of authority to FERC to set just and reasonable wholesale rates with imagined Congressional intent to usurp traditional state functions,” Ari Peskoe, director of Harvard University’s Electricity Law Initiative, said in an email.

January 10, 2019

In the Media
Utility Dive

McNamee won’t recuse himself from resilience debates unless they ‘closely resemble’ coal bailout

Though McNamee pledged during his confirmation hearing to consult with ethics officials, any recusal decision remains his alone. Ari Peskoe, the director of the Harvard Electricity Law Initiative, said he must remain vigilant about monitoring the grid resilience docket.

January 10, 2019

In the Media
Law360

Dem Climate Bill Would Set 100% Renewable Energy Target

While retail electricity sales are generally within the jurisdiction of states, Congress retains the authority to preempt state utility regulation, according to Ari Peskoe, who directs the electricity law initiative at Harvard Law School’s Environmental and Energy Law Program.

January 10, 2019

In the Media
Utility Dive

Green groups press for McNamee recusal on FERC resilience docket

Some energy lawyers say McNamee’s refusal to recuse himself could open the commission to legal challenges on orders that involve a vote from the commissioner. Ari Peskoe, director of the Harvard Environmental Law Program, made that argument in a filing at FERC also requesting McNamee sit out resilience issues.

December 20, 2018

In the Media
E&E News

2018 in court: Climate impacts can’t be ignored

FERC’s policy shift drew lots of attention — both for its substance and for the way it was announced.

“It seemed very strategic to try to evade opposition and scrutiny,” said Ari Peskoe, director of Harvard Law School’s electricity law program.

December 19, 2018