California Assembly Bill 2699 (Gonzalez) is a bill to watch if you are a home improvement contractor that installs solar energy systems or, for that matter, a contractor in California. AB 2699 would, among other things, require the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) to develop a “solar energy system disclosure document”…
In Five Things You Need to Know About the Extension of the ITC/PTC, Pillsbury partner Tom Morton discusses the 2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act (H.R. 2822) and the extension of federal income tax credits for solar, wind and certain other renewable energy facilities. Photo: Chris Potter, 3D Green Footprint, Taken December 7,…
Get ready wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal energy and transportation electrification contractors! On October 7, 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law the “Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015.” The objectives of the Act are: (1) to increase from 33% to 50% (by December 31, 2030), the procurement…
UPDATE: Stevens Wins Solar Decathlon 2015 — CONGRATULATIONS! The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon is a biennial event that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winning team will be the one that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design…
The Nevada State Contractors Board (NSCB) appears to be continuing its efforts to ensure that solar companies remain in compliance with state regulations. NSCB reports that it is using a series of outreach presentations to contractors and homeowners interested in solar construction, reporting, in part, on licensing-related violations within the industry.…
Recently the Department of Energy announced that Re Vission Consulting, LLC (Sacramento, CA), Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Virginia), Dehlsen Associates, LLC (Santa Barbara, CA), and Pennsylvania State University (State College, PA) were selected to receive $7.4 M “to spur innovation of next-generation water power component technologies, designed for manufacturability and built…
In a ruling issued July 13, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed the decision of the lower court dismissing the claim of the Energy and Environment Legal Institute (EELI) that Colorado’s renewable energy mandate, as approved by Colorado voters, violates the “dormant commerce clause” of…
On July 8, 2015, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected petitioner Lion Oil Company’s appeal of EPA’s denial of this small El Dorado, Arkansas’ refinery’s petition that its exception from the Renewable Fuel Standard program be extended for another year (through 2013), citing disruption to a key supply pipeline…
On June 2, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided the case of Carbon Sequestration Council and Southern Company Services, Inc., v. EPA on standing grounds. In 2010, EPA promulgated a rule establishing a new category of Safe Drinking Water Act injection wells, known as…
Recently, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (the “Department”) announced in its Electrical Currents newsletter (Vol. 19 No. 5 May 2015) that, “[a]fter extensive research into product availability, and feedback from stakeholders, in accordance with National Electrical Code® (NEC®) 90.4, I have made the decision to extend the…