In the Media – Page 114 – Environmental and Energy Law Program

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Inside Climate News

Trump’s Fighting to Keep a Costly, Unreliable Coal Plant Running. TVA Wants to Shut It Down.

What study the governor was referring to isn’t clear, said Ari Peskoe, director of the Electricity Law Initiative at the Harvard Law School, who follows FERC proceedings.

February 13, 2019

S&P Global

US EPA could ‘split’ permitting changes from coal plant rule, air chief says

Joseph Goffman, senior legal counsel in the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation in the Obama administration, said in a Feb. 12 interview that the agency is likely considering the NSR changes as a separate action to reduce legal risk as it seeks to finalize a replacement to the Clean Power Plan. “Proposing the NSR changes separately, to some degree, reduces the vulnerability of a final ACE,” he said.

February 13, 2019

E&E News

Offshore wind project hits rough water in New England

But it’s a fragile compromise. In many ways, the disagreement over Vineyard Wind’s waiver is best understood as a fight over money, said Ari Peskoe, who leads Harvard Law School’s Electricity Law Initiative. He pointed to a New England Power Generators Association filing with FERC this week, in which the power plant owners argued that Vineyard Wind’s participation in the auction would prompt total market revenues to fall by $270 million. For the wind developer, on the other hand, the capacity auction represents an additional revenue stream outside its state contract.

February 11, 2019

E&E News

Schumer offers clean energy lawyer for FERC — sources

“She would bring far more experience at FERC than many nominees,” added Ari Peskoe, director of the Harvard Law School’s electricity law program.

February 11, 2019

Washington Post

Under Trump, EPA inspections fall to a 10-year low

Cynthia Giles, who served as EPA’s top enforcement official during both of Obama’s terms, said in an email that the numbers show the extent to which the administration has scaled back its efforts to police environmental wrongdoing.

February 11, 2019

E&E News

Agency set to issue Clean Power Plan replacement this spring

Joe Goffman, who was a senior official in EPA’s air office during the drafting of the Clean Power Plan, recalled the agency was two months into working on the CPP at the time of the October 2013 shutdown.

February 11, 2019

Wall Street Journal

Wildfires Drove PG&E to Bankruptcy, Where Utility Must Change to Survive

Ari Peskoe, director of Harvard Law School’s electricity law initiative, said the changing nature of PG&E’s customer base mirrors broader challenges to the monopolistic business model many U.S. utilities have enjoyed for decades.

“There’s a larger issue at hand regarding how utilities are coping with new technology,” Mr. Peskoe said. “Maybe this is an opportunity for the industry to think about this differently.”

February 5, 2019

San Diego Union-Tribune

Talks to avoid a messy legal fight over California’s emissions rules appear stalled

“I’ve seen a lot of going through the motions,” said Jody Freeman, a Harvard environmental law professor who is not involved in the current talks but worked on the first set of national vehicle emissions standards under President Obama. During those negotiations, Freeman said she required agency staff with technical expertise to be deeply involved.

February 5, 2019

Law360

Fate Of Trump Energy Agenda Hazy Despite Shutdown’s End

Joseph Goffman, who worked with the Obama-era EPA and is another 2013 shutdown veteran, said it’s a coin flip whether the latest shutdown was long enough to push back finalization of major rules such as the CPP repeal and its replacement, the Affordable Clean Energy Rule, so that the inevitable legal challenges stretch past the 2020 elections.

January 29, 2019